(FOUUTH  EDITION) 


DR. LINDA  BURFIELD  HAZZARD 


Ex  Libris 
C.  K.  OGDEJV 


Linda  Bui-field  Hazznrd,  F.  S.,  D.  O. 


FASTING    FOR 

THE  CURE  OF 

DISEASE 

(FOURTH  EDITION) 

BY 
DR.  LINDA  BURFIELD  HAZZARD 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  PHYSICAL  CULTURE  PUBLISING 
COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CITY,  U.  S.  A. 


COPYRIGHT 

1908 

1910 
1912 


All   rights   of   foreign  translation   reserved. 


PREFACE 

THE  several  years  that  have  passed  since 
the  second  edition  of  this  work  was  is- 
sued have  brought  daily  proof  of  the 
success  of  the  claims  then  made.  In  this, 
the  third  edition,  the  author  trusts  that  im- 
proved form,  more  numerous  citations,  and 
greater  detail  will  serve  to  stimulate  both 
the  scientific  and  the  popular  mind  to  a  realiz- 
ation of  the  importance  of  systematic  inves- 
tigation of  the  theory  and  the  practice  of 
Fasting  for  the  Prevention  and  the  Cure  of 
Disease. 

Again  the  author  desires  to  acknowledge 
her  indebtedness  to  Dr.  Edward  Hooker 
Dewey,  now  deceased,  for  his  counsel  and 
personal  guidance  in  the  early  years  of  her 
practice.  She  is  also  deeply  sensible  of  the 
encouragement  and  material  support  of  pa- 
tients and  friends,  in  default  of  which  the 
success  that  has  attended  her  efforts  in  ad- 


1CSCS86 


PREFACE 


vancing  the  work  in  hand  would  many  times 
have  failed  of  accomplishment. 

The  author  cannot  flatter  herself  with  the 
thought  that  she  will  succeed  in  convincing 
all  who  read  this  book  of  the  truth  it  presents, 
for  any  question  that  concerns  inducing  be- 
lief in  other  minds  is  seldom  settled  by  argu- 
ment. But,  if  it  be  capable  of  practical  solu- 
tion, its  worth  is  easily  discovered  through 
trial.  And  it  is  thus  with  the  fast.  But,  be- 
cause of  almost  universal  dependence  upon 
specialized  advice,  and  because  of  human  de- 
sire for  tangible  remedy,  the  method  is  hard 
to  follow.  It  involves  rigid  self-denial  in 
its  initial  stages  and  after  it  is  broken  it 
may  prove  disagreeable  in  application.  If, 
for  one  moment,  the  immeasurable  benefits 
that  accrue  from  bodily  purification  and  re- 
newal are  lost  sight  of,  bitter  lessons  are 
taught.  The  slow  processes  of  nature  can 
never  be  hurried  in  action.  Time  elapses  in 
the  development  of  disease,  and  time  must 
elapse  ere  cure  results.  Impatience  is  the  evil 
underlying  world-dependence  upon  drugs. 
Quickness  of  action  is  demanded,  and  a 
symptom  suppressed  is  a  cure  accomplished 
— in  medical  parlance.  But,  is  this  true? 
The  text  explains. 

vi 


PREFACE 


Every  step  that  is  taken  in  developing  the 
practice  of  treatment  of  disease  by  natural 
methods  is  met  with  opposition  which,  in 
many  instances,  amounts  to  persecution.  The 
research  covered  by  this  work,  and  especially 
that  which  involved  post  mortem  examina- 
tion, was  hampered  by  medical  intervention 
and  was  accomplished  only  through  sheer  de- 
termination and  the  assistance  of  a  few  broad 
minds  in  authority.  The  author  believes  that 
these  autopsies  are  unique  in  the  history  of 
the  healing  art.  No  other  investigator  in  her 
ken  has  had  opportunity  to  connect  the  origin 
of  disease  with  the  immediate  cause  of  death 
— its  organic  consequence.  The  latter,  in  all 
cases,  have  the  additional  advantage  and 
scientific  value  of  being  exhibited  free  from 
the  effects  of  drugs. 

Stress  must  be  laid  upon  the  truth  in  the 
statement  that  the  fast  is  but  a  means  to  an 
end.  Full  vigor  and  complete  recuperation 
are  not  to  be  had  in  a  moment,  and  the  com- 
pleted benefits  of  the  treatment  are  seldom 
enjoyed  until  three,  four,  or  six  months  after 
the  end  of  abstinence.  Patience,  self-denial, 
and  faith  are  the  moral  requirements,  with 
physical  regeneration  as  the  reward  for  their 
exercise. 

vii 


PREFACE 


In  describing  the  symptoms  of  disease  and 
the  anatomy  of  the  body,  it  has  been  neces- 
sary to  use  terms  that  are  technical  in  charac- 
ter. To  render  the  text  perfectly  intelligible 
to  the  lay  mind,  a  glossary  has  been  appended 
which  contains  the  definitions  of  all  words 
difficult  of  interpretation. 

The  facts  presented  and  the  arguments 
made  are  intended  primarily  for  general  in- 
telligence; but,  since  the  facts  are  corrobor- 
ated, it  is  hoped  that  earnest  investigation 
will  follow  by  those  who  seek  truth  in  its 
every  phase.  The  author  claims  no  origin- 
ality in  theory,  either  philosophical  or  physi- 
ological, but  she  insists  upon  the  recognition 
of  her  thoroughness  of  detail  in  research,  and 
of  her  confidence  in  practical  demonstration. 

LINDA  BURFIELD  HAZZARD. 
Olalla,  Washington,  December,  1912. 


viii 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

PREFACE   II 

I.  FASTING  17 

II.  STARVATION   27 

III.  WHEN  AND  WHY  TO  FAST 34 

IV.  PREPARATION  FOR  THE  FAST 49 

V.  SYMPTOMS    6l 

VI.  THE  DURATION  OF  THE  FAST 91 

VII.  BREAKING  THE  FAST 103 

VIII.  THE   ENEMA 115 

IX.  FOOD  AND  DISEASE 131 

X.  REST  AND  ELIMINATION 143 

XI.  AUXILIARIES  IN  FASTING 153 

XII.  DIET   169 

XIII.  MENTAL  AND  BODILY  REACTION 187 

XIV.  CHILDREN  IN  THE  FAST 203 

XV.  SEXUAL  DISEASES  AND  THE  FAST 219 

XVI.  DIFFICULTIES  IN  CONDUCTING  THE  FAST.   231 

XVII.  CURES   BY   FASTING 251 

XVIII.  DEATH  IN  THE  FAST 293 

XIX.  SCHOOLS  OF  NATURAL  HEALING 341 

GLOSSARY    S47 

ix 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Linda  Burfield  Hazzard,  D.O.,  F.S.     .     Frontispiece 
Mrs.  J.     Case  of  Obesity     .         Following  Page    30 

Mrs.  J.,  at  End  of  Thirty  four 

Day  Fast Preceding  Page    SI 

J.    G.      Case   of   Addiction   to 
Drugs 

J.  G.     Six  Months  After  Com- 
pletion of  Fast    .... 

R.    J.      Case    of    Malnutrition 

and  Spinal  Curvature   .     .          Facing  Page 

Alimentary  Canal 

B.  H.     Case  of  Intestinal  Dis- 
order in  One-year-old  Child 

R.     M.       Case     of     Bronchial 
Pneumonia  in  Four-year-old 


Following  Page    42 
Preceding  Page    43 


Child 


A.  H.    Case  of  Serious  Chronic 
Stomach   Disease    .... 

Mrs.  E.  S.    Case  of  Biliousness 
During  Pregnancy  .... 

Two  Fasting  Subjects — F.   T. 
and  J.  T.  . 


67 

124 

209 

213 

277 
280 
284 


Appetite  is  Craving;  Hunger  it  Desire.  Craving 
is  never  satisfied;  but  Desire  is  relieved  when  Want  is 
Supplied. 

Eating  without  Hunger,  or  pandering  to  Appetite 
at  the  expense  of  Digestion,  makes  Disease  inevitable. 


xffl 


Some,  as  thou  saws't,  by  violent  stroke  shall  die, 

By  fire,  flood,  famine;  by  intemperance  more 

In  meats  and  drinks,  which  on  the  Earth  shall  bring 

Diseases  dire,  of  which  a  monstrous  crew 

Before  thee  shall  appear,  that  thou  mays't  know 

What  misery  the  inabstinence  of  Eve 

Shall  bring  on  men. 

If  thou  well  observe   - 

The  rule  of  "Not  too  much"  by  temperance  taught 
In  what  thou  eat'st  and  drink'st,  seeking  from  thence 
Due  nourishment,  not  gluttonous  delight. 
Till  many  years  over  thy  head  return; 
So  may'st  thou  live,  till,  like  ripe  fruit,  thou  drop 
Into  thy  mother's  lap,  or  be  with  ease 
Gathered,  not  harshly  plucked,  for  death  mature. 

John  Milton,  "Paradise  Lost." 


xv 


CHAPTER  I 

FASTING 

IN  order  that  a  clear  grasp  of  the  subject 
matter  of  the  text  may  be  obtained,  a 
short  explanation  of  the  fast  and  of  the 
principles  upon  which  its  efficacy  in  the 
treatment  of  disease  is  based  is  essential.  It 
will  also  be  necessary,  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
fining the  distinction  that  exists  between 
Fasting  and  Starvation,  to  discuss  in  a  fol- 
lowing chapter  the  physiological  changes  de- 
veloped in  the  progress  of  the  latter,  since, 
in  the  popular  mind,  the  two  processes  in- 
volved are  vaguely  considered  as  one  and  the 
same. 

Fasting  is  defined  as  follows: — The  vol- 
untary denial  of  food  to  a  system,  which 
is  diseased,  and  which,  because  of  disease, 
does  not  require  nourishment  until  rested, 
cleansed,  and  eager  again  to  take  up  the 
labor  of  digestion.  Then,  and  not  till  then, 
is  food  supplied;  then,  and  not  till  then, 
does  starvation  begin. 

17 


FASTING 


Relieving  physical  illness  by  voluntary 
withholding  food  is  based  upon  the  logical 
conclusion  of  the  argument  herein  that,  no 
matter  what  are  the  various  names  attached 
to  the  forms  in  which  disease  is  manifested, 
there  is  but  one  cause  for  all  of  its  outward 
and  inward  signs.  The  sole  source  of  bodily 
ills  is  impure  blood.  The  cause  of  impure 
blood  is  imperfect  digestion. 

An  important  distinction  in  conditions 
here  needs  exposition:— 

Organic  disease,  whether  inherent  or  the 
result  of  continued  functional  disturbance 
or  physical  shock,  is  that  in  which  one  or 
more  of  the  internal  organs  of  the  body  is 
deformed,  undeveloped,  or  otherwise  dis- 
abled so  as  to  prevent  or  to  curtail  its  work, 
a  state  comparable  to  that  of  a  machine  with 
a  missing  cog. 

Functional  disease  is  that  in  which  the  or- 
gans themselves  are  in  condition  to  do  their 
work  naturally,  but  have  become  unable  to 
function  because  of  poisonous  congestion,  the 
result  of  food  taken  into  the  body  beyond 
the  amount  which  the  system  needs  for  main- 
tenance. Such  surplus  ferments  and  putre- 
fies in  the  intestinal  canal  and  elsewhere, 
producing  toxins  that  are  absorbed  into  the 

18 


FASTING 


blood,  thus  impairing  its  quality  and  func- 
tionally hampering  the  vital  processes.  Ex- 
tra labor  is  also  entailed  upon  the  organs 
assailed,  since  they  are  stimulated  in  un- 
wonted degree  by  the  presence  of  substances 
harmf  uj  to  their  action. 

Inherent  organic  disease  is  a  cause  in  itself 
of  imperfect  digestion,  for,  when  it  is  pres- 
ent, the  organs  are  partially  or  entirely  crip- 
pled from  birth.  While  this  form  of  disease 
is  beyond  the  hope  of  cure,  its  harmful  re- 
sults upon  the  body  may  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum  by  means  of  the  fast,  and  a  com- 
bination of  this  method  of  treatment  with 
scientific  dieting  will  lengthen  the  life  of  the 
unfortunate  victim  to  the  extent  to  which  a 
defective  organism  permits  vitality  to  op- 
erate. 

Functional  disease  and  its  ultimate  result, 
functionally-caused  organic  disease,  are  the 
consequences  of  digestion  impaired  by  incor- 
rect methods  in  feeding,  by  improper  selec- 
tion of  food,  and  by  excess  supply.  In  any 
of  these  circumstances,  as  has  been  said,  pois- 
ons are  produced  that  injure  the  system, 
until  finally  the  condition  becomes  general 
and  disease  is  apparent.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  subject  cannot  have  been  ignorant  of  in- 

19 


FASTING 

ternal  disturbance  for  some  time  previous  to 
actual  disability,  for  minor  aches  and  pains 
have  given  ample  warning.  Mild  preventive 
steps,  taken  when  symptoms  first  appear, 
shut  off  by  anticipative  action  later  drastic 
measures.  "An  ounce  of  prevention  \s  worth 
a  pound  of  cure."  The  power  resident  in  na- 
ture of  contending  against  bodily  abuse  is 
limited  only  by  individual  characteristics,  and 
a  positive  halt  is  not  called  until,  through  ne- 
glect, the  physical  machinery  has  been 
clogged  with  food  rubbish  and  its  products, 
and  equilibrium  has  been  overturned. 

It  is  possible  that  at  first  sight  the  princi- 
ples here  set  down  cannot  be  fully  appre- 
hended, but,  as  important  premises  to  the 
argument,  they  are  again  enumerated  for 
reference  by  the  student  in  connection  with 
the  body  of  the  text : — 

The  source  of  all  symptoms  of  disease  is 
impure  blood. 

Impure  blood  is  caused  by  impaired  diges- 
tion. 

Impaired  digestion  results  from 

(a)  Taking  into  the  body  food 
wrongly  selected  in  kind  or  in  quantity, 
wrongly  prepared,  or  wrongly  masti- 
cated. 

90 


FASTING 


(b)  Taking  into  the  body  food  that 
may  have  been  correctly  selected,  pre- 
pared, and  eaten,  but  in  quantity  greater 
than  is  needed  for  the  repair  and  growth 
of  tissue  cells. 

If  any  of  these  causes  is  operative,  food 
ingested  ferments  and  putrefies,  generating 
a  circulating  poison  that  creates  and  con- 
tinues disease  until  the  producing  cause  can 
be  cast  out  by  the  organs  of  elimination. 

Inherent  organic  disease  and  functionally- 
caused  organic  disease  in  its  later  stages  em- 
body defects  in  form,  size,  or  cell-structure  of 
any  one  of  the  vital  organs.  Except  in  rare 
instances,  through  surgical  intervention,  such 
structural  deficiencies  are  beyond  the  hope  of 
cure,  but  a  scientific  dietary,  combined  with 
judicious  application  of  the  fast  and  its  ac- 
cessories, will  afford  relief  and  prolong  ex- 
istence. 

In  purely  functional  disease  the  vital  or- 
gans are  normally  developed  and  physically 
perfect  in  structure,  but,  clogged  and  laden 
with  the  accumulation  of  the  toxic  products 
of  food  excess,  their  functions  are  impeded 
or  totally  arrested.  Functional  disease  is  a 
condition  that  admits  of  complete  recovery, 
and,  even  in  its  acute  forms,  cure  is  a  cer- 

91 


FASTING 


tainty  where  natural  law  is  permitted  its 
course. 

Any  symptom  of  disease  in  the  body  is  evi- 
dence of  poison  circulating  in  the  blood  and 
deposited  in  the  tissues.  The  conventional 
medical  method  of  attack  invariably  aims  at 
the  suppression  of  the  symptom  rather  than 
at  the  removal  of  its  cause. 

Hunger  and  disease  cannot  exist  simul- 
taneously in  the  human  frame,  and  natural 
methods  of  cure  take  this  fact  into  considera- 
tion, assuming  first,  the  unity  of  disease,  and 
second,  the  means  indicated  by  nature  for 
restoration  of  health.  When  hunger  is  ab- 
sent, food  is  not  required,  and  all  animate 
creation,  save  man,  obeys  the  primal  law  of 
abstinence  when  the  physical  scale  no  longer 
balances.  Recognizing  that  disease  arises 
from  a  single  source,  the  method  of  the  fast 
recognizes  as  well  a  unity  of  cure — rest  for 
organs  overworked  and  abused,  and  prompt 
removal  by  natural  mechanical  aids  of  filth 
productive  of  substances  noxious  to  health. 

To  revert  to  the  symptoms  of  disease — the 
function  of  digestion  is  generally  regarded 
as  an  extensive  and  complicated  process,  and 
it  is  so  closely  related  to  the  functions  of 
other  parts  of  the  body  that  it  is  difficult  to 

22 


FASTING 

describe  the  bounds,  if  any,  beyond  which  di- 
gestion has  no  influence.  The  digestive  ap- 
paratus is  commonly  spoken  of  as  including 
the  alimentary  canal  and  those  important 
glands  that  contribute  secretions  to  the  suc- 
cessive processes  involved ;  but,  as  absorption 
and  assimilation,  on  the  one  hand,  and  forma- 
tion and  withdrawal  of  waste  products,  on 
the  other,  are  so  nearly  related  to  preliminary 
digestion,  it  is  impossible  to  form  a  clear  con- 
ception of  disease  of  the  digestive  organs 
without  observing  the  state  of  other  and  con- 
tributory parts  of  the  body.  While  it  makes 
for  simplicity  of  description  to  exclude  those 
organs  not  commonly  grouped  with  the  di- 
gestive apparatus,  this  does  not  result  in  a 
correct  understanding,  and  therefore,  if  an 
explanation  is  to  be  found,  not  only  for  a 
disturbed  physiological  state,  but  also,  in 
instances,  for  structural  changes  in  the  di- 
gestive organs,  the  field  must  be  widened, 
and  study  be  directed  to  the  nervous  system, 
including  its  physical  manifestations,  to  the 
fluids  of  the  body,  to  the  rebuilding  and 
breaking-down  of  tissue,  and  to  the  elimi- 
native  functions  as  well.  Unconsciously,  a 
great  part  of  the  importance  of  this  general 
view  is  perhaps  recognized  when  it  is  assumed 

23 


FASTING 


that  good  digestion  depends  upon  restful 
sleep,  fresh  air,  sunlight,  physical  exercise, 
and  activity  of  the  bowels,  kidneys,  and  skin. 
Disregarding  these  essential  matters,  it  is 
difficult  to  apprehend  the  nature  of  digestive 
disturbances,  or  to  prescribe  for  their  relief. 
It  may  truly  be  said  of  an  individual  that,  in 
a  sense,  his  digestive  ailment  arises  in  the 
brain,  in  the  lungs,  in  the  heart,  or  in  the  kid- 
neys, but  the  distinctions  and  differences 
heretofore  stated  must  be  clearly  kept  in 
mind,  lest  the  idea  of  the  unity  of  disease  be 
clouded.  The  study  of  disease  of  the  stomach 
is  not  limited  to  that  organ,  but  is  the  expres- 
sion there  of  disturbances  that  may  be  widely 
distributed  throughout  the  body.  Medicine 
has  sought  to  give  disease  specifically  classi- 
fied names  based  upon  locality  of  symptom, 
but  this,  it  is  seen,  is  only  a  relatively  justifia- 
ble conception.  There  are  no  symptoms 
referable  solely  to  the  kidneys,  to  the  heart, 
or  to  the  blood ;  the  man  is  sick  from  a  single 
cause ;  his  illness  appears  here  or  there. 

The  advance  toward  unity  of  thought  and 
of  action  goes  on  in  all  scientific  fields,  and  it 
is  logical  to  believe  that  the  important  place 
occupied  in  the  universe  by  the  body  of  man 
should  long  since  have  been  completely  de- 

M 


FASTING 


fined,  and  that  the  disturbances  of  the  physi- 
cal functions  of  the  human  edifice  should 
have  been  traced  to  their  single  source. 

The  doctrine  of  Unity  in  the  Cause  and 
Cure  of  Disease,  as  set  forth  in  the  text  of 
this  work,  has  been  carefully  and  earnestly 
investigated  through  a  period  of  over  sixteen 
years.  Thousands  of  cases  have  been  handled, 
and  each  instance  has  confirmed  the  convic- 
tion that  the  principle  involved  is  absolutely 
sound.  It  has  stood  all  tests.  Where  death 
has  occurred,  the  autopsy  showed  organic  de- 
fects, inherent,  or  acquired  through  years  of 
continued  functional  abuse.  These  defects 
alone  made  death  inevitable,  whether  the 
patient  be  fasting  or  feeding. 

So  far  as  can  be  accomplished  in  a  work  of 
this  size,  the  fasting  method  of  cure  and  the 
results  of  its  application  in  the  regeneration 
of  the  body  and  the  mind  are  fully  discussed. 
All  that  is  asked  of  the  reader  is  that  preju- 
dice be  laid  aside,  and  that  the  subject  be  ap- 
proached without  bias,  keeping  before  the 
eye  of  the  mind  the  words  of  the  Apostle : — 
"Prove  all  things;  hold  fast  that  which  is 
good." 


35 


CHAPTER  II 


STARVATION 


"Repletion  and  Starvation  may  both  do  harm  in  two 
contrary  extremes." 

Burton:  Anatomy  of  Melancholy. 


CHAPTER  II 

STARVATION 

DEATH  from  starvation  frequently  oc- 
curs when  the  body  is  overfed.  The 
purpose  of  food  is  that  of  nourishing 
body  tissue,  a  purely  mechanical  process  for 
use  in  growth  and  rebuilding.  In  the  event 
that,  through  errors  in  digestion,  organic  de- 
fect, or  fault  in  the  functions  of  absorption 
and  assimilation,  tissue  waste  is  not  replaced 
as  broken  down,  starvation  and  death  result. 
If  any  one  of  these  conditions  exists,  the 
more  food  supplied,  the  less  resistance  to 
disease  succeeds,  since  energy  is  then  directed 
towards  the  elimination  of  food  products 
that  cannot  be  utilized  because  of  physical 
inability  in  the  ultimate  processes  of  growth. 
Exhaustion  and,  after  a  time,  death  occur. 

Death  from  starvation  cannot  take  place 
in  a  fast  when  organic  disease  is  absent.  In 
every  animate  body  a  reserve  supply  of 
nourishment  is  held  in  the  interstices  of  tissue 
cells.  The  brain  and  the  nerves  are  directly 


Mrs.  J.     Obesity.     Photograph  of  subject  taken 
before  treatment;   weight,  250  pounds. 


Mrs.    J.    at    end    of    fast    of   thirty-four    days, 

weight   14-5  pounds.     A  remarkable  reduction 

of  105   pounds  accomplished  by  treatment. 


STARVATION 


mine  disasters,  and  the  like,  digestive  func- 
tion is  paralyzed  primarily  by  mental  appre- 
hension due  to  the  situation.  If  death  occur 
in  these  circumstances,  within  several  days  or 
weeks,  it  must  be  attributed,  not  to  want  of 
nourishment,  but  to  the  effect  of  general 
emotional  exhaustion  upon  physical  force. 

For  the  purposes  of  the  text,  Starvation 
may  be  defined  as  the  denial  of  food  by  acci- 
dent or  design  to  a  system,  non-diseased,  but 
clamoring  for  sustenance.  Hunger  indicates 
the  need,  and,  whenever  its  call  is  sounded, 
fatal  consequences  ensue  in  case  of  neglect  or 
omission  to  feed. 

Thus  emphasizing  the  distinction  between 
the  state  of  the  human  body  in  a  fast,  and  its 
condition  in  the  process  of  starvation,  de- 
tailed examination  of  these  subjects  is  left 
for  other  chapters. 


CHAPTER  III 
WHEN  AND  WHY  TO  FAST 

'The  When — The  Why— It  Boots  It  Now  To  Tell." 

— Byron. 


CHAPTER  III 

WHEN  AND  WHY  TO  FAST 

IT  is,  perhaps,  difficult  for  the  average 
mind  to  grasp  the  fundamental  natural 
principle  of  the  Unity  of  Disease — to  re- 
alize that  disease  is  not  only  the  warning  of 
nature,  but  her  remedy  in  sickness.  The 
symptoms  expressing  disease  may  be  specifi- 
cally named  and  classified — it  may  be  said 
that  a  patient  suffers  from  Bright's  Disease, 
from  eczema,  from  diphtheria,  or  from  small- 
pox, but  behind  the  symptom  lies  the  cause, 
and  the  body  is  not  to  be  thought  of  as  ill  in 
a  special  locality  or  in  an  individualized  or- 
gan. It  is  sick  as  a  whole,  though  the  signs 
of  its  ailment  are  more  visible  or  more  se- 
verely expressed  in  one  locality  or  another. 
Illness  results  when  balance  no  longer  exists 
between  nutrition  and  elimination,  with  the 
consequence  that  the  blood-current  is  vitiated 
at  its  source,  the  resistive  powers  lowered, 
and  germ-soil  produced.  One  remedy  alone 
can  cope  with  this  condition,  and  it  is  that 

35 


FASTING 


which  nature  suggests  and  employs — elimi- 
nation of  the  poisonous  products  of  digestive 
ferment,  and  rest  for  organs,  that  have  been 
functioning  under  stress.  It  is  thus  seen  that, 
not  only  is  a  unity  to  be  recognized  in  the 
cause  of  disease,  but  that  there  exists  an  equal 
unity  in  natural  means  of  relief  and  cure. 

Here  is  perceived  the  peculiar  office  of  the 
fast — it  is  the  unit  cure.  As  pointed -out  else- 
where, the  lower  animals  by  instinct  employ 
it  when  ill,  and  its  efficiency  in  disease,  func- 
tional and  organic,  when  applied  to  human- 
kind, is  fully  substantiated  and  daily  cor- 
roborated. 

Disease  affects  every  cell  in  the  animal 
body.  The  fast  in  its  operation  and  results 
equally  affects  the  body  as  a  whole.  What 
matter,  if,  in  attaining  the  extreme  ends  of 
purification,  the  body  is  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum of  flesh?  Organs  and  frame-work  still 
remain  by  which  and  upon  which  to  build  a 
new,  purified,  and  resistive  structure  for 
future  needs. 

The  simplest  forms  in  which  bodily  illness 
is  expressed  are  the  various  rashes  that  ap- 
pear upon  the  skin.  These  result  directly 
from  stomach-abuse — from  inability  of  that 
organ  to  carry  on  its  work  because  of  over- 

36 


WHENANDWHYTOFAST 

work  or  of  food  improperly  supplied.  Elimi- 
nation through  bowels,  kidneys,  and  lungs  is 
by  nature  continued  to  the  limit  of  the  power 
of  these  organs.  They  may  be  overtaxed,  and 
then  but  one  avenue  remains  for  the  escape 
of  surplus  impurity — the  skin.  It  responds, 
and  in  responding,  suffers.  Sometimes  it  is 
the  skin  itself  that  is  called  upon  to  work  to 
its  limit,  or  it  may  be  that  it  is  affected  by 
exposure  and  chill  with  closing  of  its 
pores ;  then  the  excess  of  waste  is  discharged 
through  mucus  membrane  or  through  lungs, 
and  colds  and  pneumonia  appear.  Equal 
balance  must  exist  among  all  the  organs  of 
elimination.  Each  must  perform  its  allotted 
task  proportionately  with  the  others.  And 
the  arms  of  the  scale  of  intake  and  outgo 
must  likewise  remain  at  level,  and  they  do  so 
maintain  balance  in  health.  Any  excess  of 
weight  on  one  side  or  the  other  means  disease. 
The  fast  as  a  remedy  is  universally  indi- 
cated— never  specially  so.  There  are  no 
diseases,  but  only  one  disease.  And  for  this 
there  is  but  one  remedy.  No  need  exists  in 
health  for  the  employment  of  measures  for 
the  alleviation  of  pain  and  distress,  for  the 
reason  that  these  signs  are  non-evident  when 
physical  balance  exists.  Remedial  means  are 

37 


FASTING 


necessary  only  in  illness,  and  then,  and  then 
alone,  should  the  fast  and  its  accessories  be 
applied. 

Before  entering  upon  a  fast,  illness  must 
be  manifested,  and  the  patient,  whether 
under  guidance  or  conducting  his  own  case, 
should  fully  grasp  the  details  of  the  truth 
that  physical  lack  of  balance  is  due  to  a  single 
cause.  The  symptoms  that  are  present,  or 
that  may  arise  thereafter  in  the  fast  or  when 
on  diet,  need  occasion  no  alarm,  for  their 
source  is  understood,  and  their  meaning  is  a 
therapeutic  one.  Nature  is  in  process  of  puri- 
fying the  body — is  casting  out  its  waste,  and 
is  cleansing  the  system  in  preparation  for 
active,  healthy  rebuilding.  The  omission  of 
food  permits  natural  law  to  operate  unham- 
pered, and  it  is  the  only  method  by  which 
natural  assistance  can  be  given  with  the  as- 
surance of  permanent  relief  and  cure.  The 
alleviation  of  symptomatic  distress  is  ac- 
complished locally  by  simple  hygienic  means 
— dry  heat,  hot  fomentations,  cold  applica- 
tions, sunlight,  fresh  air,  osteopathic  manipu- 
lation, chiropractic  adjustment,  and  the 
enema. 

The  time  to  fast  is  when  ill.  And  illness 
never  occurs  at  the  convenient  moment.  Its 

38 


WHENANDWHYTOFAST 

warnings  may  be  present  in  summer  or  in 
winter,  and  they  must  promptly  be  heeded 
regardless  of  personal  inclination  or  of  cli- 
matic condition.  To  wait  until  disease  de- 
velops locally  is  disastrous,  and  diagnosis  is 
unnecessary,  for  natural  treatment  in  any 
and  all  illness  is  identical  in  essence,  and 
varies  only  in  minor  details.  True,  it  is  more 
pleasant  to  carry  out  a  fast  in  warm  weather, 
but  this  should  never  deter  an  ailing  body 
from  fasting  in  winter.  Artificial  means  of 
maintaining  room  temperature  are  always 
available,  and  the  hygienic  requirements  may 
be  utilized  with  equal  success  whether  the 
outer  air  be  warm  or  cold. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  substance  of  the 
argument  indicates  that  winter  is  the  natural 
season  of  rest  and  recuperation.  Outdoor  na- 
ture is  dormant.  Many  animals  hibernate, 
and  all  prepare  for  the  growing  period,  the 
resurrection  of  spring.  Mankind,  because  of 
artificial  environment  and  custom,  and  with 
the  mistaken  idea  that  body-heat  is  derived 
entirely  from  fuel  consumed,  from  food  in- 
gested, eats  more  heavily  in  winter,  and  ap- 
proaches spring  with  a  system  overloaded 
with  waste  and  in  no  condition  to  meet  the 
work-time  of  the  year.  Spring-fever  and 

39 


FASTING 

spring-tonics  are  household  terms,  and  epi- 
demic disease  is  more  prevalent  then  than  at 
any  other  season.  But  again,  remedy  for 
disease  should  be  used  only  when  disease  is 
manifested. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  social  surroundings 
of  a  fasting  patient  are  of  the  utmost  import. 
The  effect  of  mental  states  upon  the  physical 
body  is  too  well  known  to  dwell  upon  in  this 
connection,  and  another  chapter  deals  with 
this  subject  in  all  of  its  aspects.  When 
friends  and  family  object  to  the  treatment, 
they  object  because  of  ignorance  of  the  pur- 
pose of  the  method  and  of  the  details  of  its 
application.  Affection,  too,  may  enter  into 
their  opposition,  and  they,  in  their  ignorance 
fear  the  outcome.  The  simple  truth  that 
underlies  the  method  is  usually  easy  to  im- 
press upon  a  mind  situate  in  a  body  long  dis- 
eased. But,  often,  convincing  a  patient  is 
only  half  the  battle,  for  relatives  and  friends 
resist  to  the  point  of  compulsion.  Since  peace 
of  mind  and  quiet  environment  are  essential 
to  successful  issue,  it  is  best  to  remove  from 
anxious  but  misguided  intimates,  permitting 
them  to  await  in  ignorance  of  immediate 
trials  the  results  that  prove  the  wisdom  of 
conviction. 

40 


WHENANDWHYTOFAST 

Worry,  anger,  and  grief  are  also  most 
detrimental  to  progress  towards  cure.  One 
instance  comes  to  mind  in  which  a  case  had 
fasted  but  eight  days  for  functional  disease 
of  no  especial  gravity.  Improvement  had 
been  continuous,  but  differences  existed  be- 
tween the  patient  and  her  husband,  and  the 
latter,  in  an  interview  with  his  wife  on  the 
eighth  day  of  her  fast,  so  angered  and  dis- 
tressed her  that  a  nervous  congestive  chill, 
with  suffusion  of  blood  to  the  brain  and 
lungs,  occurred,  and  death  resulted  immedi- 
ately from  these  causes.  No  amount  of  argu- 
ment could  convince  the  orthodox  mind  that 
the  fast  had  not  brought  about  death  in  this 
case.  But  the  woman  would  have  died  just 
as  surely  had  the  scene  described  taken  place 
before  the  omission  of  food,  when  the  patient 
was  ill  and  nervously  weaker  than  at  the  time 
when  anger  and  grief  were  so  strongly  ex- 
cited. 

In  cases  of  functional  disease,  when  the 
patient  is  not  so  depleted  as  to  be  bed-ridden, 
moderate  daily  exercise  is  most  beneficial.  In 
fact,  it  is  recommended  that  the  ordinary 
duties  of  life  be  continued,  if  such  be  possible. 
In  many  instances  this  can  be  done,  and  bene- 
fit accrues  from  exercise,  because  of  its  as- 

41 


FASTING 


sistance  to  elimination,  and  from  mental 
work,  because  of  its  value  in  diverting  the 
mind  from  contemplation  of  physical  ills. 
Numbers  of  fasters  can  safely  follow  their 
usual  vocations,  and,  again,  others  are  com- 
pelled to  rest  throughout  the  period  of  ab- 
stinence. The  majority  of  the  latter  are, 
however,  sufferers  from  organic  defects,  in- 
cipient or  advanced  in  character,  and  sooner 
or  later  the  facts  are  uncovered  in  the  course 
of  treatment. 

One  thought  may  be  impressed  at  this 
point.  The  patient  should  so  occupy  himself, 
in  so  far  as  he  can,  that  his  illness  and  his 
treatment  are  not  at  any  time  uppermost  in 
his  mind.  The  method  in  its  infancy  has 
numbered  among  the  majority  of  its  patients 
chronic  invalids,  medically  treated  for  years, 
and  accustomed  to  constant  thought  of  per- 
sonal pain  and  distress.  The  relief  occasioned 
by  the  fast  very  often  permits  these  cases  to 
forget  their  ailments,  and  to  devote  their  at- 
tention to  the  duties  of  life.  Occupation  and 
amusement  assist  materially  in  accomplish- 
ing this  result. 

In  the  ordinary  case  of  functional  disease 
the  fast  to  complete  purification  should  be 


J.  G.    Victim  of  drug  habit.    Photograph  depicts  appear- 
ance at  end  of  his  fast  of  fifty  days. 


J.  G.     Six  months  after  completion  of  fast.     A  complete 

physical  and  moral  transformation  was  the 

result  of  treatment  in  this  case. 


WHENANDWHYTOFAST 

employed.  The  law  of  hunger  determines  its 
duration,  and,  all  other  things  being  equal, 
the  surroundings  and  mental  attitude  in  ac- 
cord, this  course  will  assure  restoration  to 
health.  When  the  environment  is  not  con- 
genial, or  when,  in  the  mind  of  the  director 
of  treatment,  the  condition  of  the  patient  is 
such  as  to  require  the  suggestive  effect  of 
food,  occasions  may  arise  when  the  partial 
fast  or  the  interrupted  fast  may  be  used  to 
advantage.  Sometimes,  too,  the  facilities  for 
carrying  out  a  complete  fast  are  not  at  hand, 
and  here  the  partial  fast  may  be  deemed  a 
better  policy  than  its  finished  product.  The 
end  is  eventually  identical,  although  it  is 
somewhat  longer  in  accomplishment  when 
the  partial  or  interrupted  fast  is  employed. 

There  are  cases  in  which  the  poisonous  pro- 
ducts of  digestive  putrefaction  are  present  in 
such  quantity  as  to  tax  the  eliminative  organs 
beyond  their  capability.  In  fact,  when  ser- 
ious and  extreme  symptoms  occur  after  the 
beginning  of  a  fast,  it  is  virtually  certain  that 
organic  defects  exist,  and  caution  and  knowl- 
edge are  then  needed  in  carrying  the  fast  to 
its  conclusion.  Because  of  the  general  belief 
that  every  symptom  is  a  separate  disease,  the 
ordinary  mind  regards  the  symptom  to  the 

43 


FASTING! 


exclusion  of  the  disturbance  producing  it. 
When  a  symptom  of  disease  appears  in  ag- 
gravated form  after  years  of  intermittent 
occurrence,  experience  leads  to  the  conclusion 
that  organic  change  has  taken  place,  and  that 
disease  is  due  no  longer  to  functional  de- 
rangement, but  to  actual  organic  defect. 
Here  the  partial  or  the  interrupted  fast  is 
found  desirable,  not  because  the  protracted 
fast  would  not  accomplish  the  results  with 
better  prospect  of  successful  outcome,  but  be- 
cause the  average  patient  regards  the  symp- 
tom as  the  cause,  and  fails  to  appreciate 
what  its  temporary  aggravation  in  the  pro- 
tracted fast  implies.  Increase  in  severity  of 
symptom  may  occur  and  does  occur  in 
periods  of  dieting  also. 

An  organ  mechanically  defective,  especi- 
ally if  it  be  eliminative  in  function,  cannot  be 
expected  to  work  to  full  capacity.  It  may  be 
able  partially  to  perform  its  task,  but,  pushed 
beyond  a  point,  it  will  assuredly  fail  to  re- 
spond. In  the  fast  all  vital  parts  are  engaged 
in  a  supreme  process  of  purification — of  cast- 
ing out  waste  matter.  And,  when  it  is  seen, 
through  aggravated  symptoms,  that  one  or 
other  of  these  is  incapable  of  full  duty,  the 
progress  of  elimination  may  be  checked  by 

44 


WHENANDWHYTOFAST 

interrupting  the  periods  of  abstinence  with 
intervals  of  diet. 

The  only  alleviation  that  can  be  ac- 
complished when  distress  occurs  in  a  fast,  is 
that  which  may  be  obtained  by  assisting  na- 
ture hygienically.  Little  can  be  done  in  case 
of  severe  symptoms  save  to  await  results,  but 
the  enema  is  an  all-important  ally,  and  in- 
variably brings  immediate  relief,  while  hot 
applications  for  pulse  and  temperature  below 
normal,  and  cold  applications  for  the  oppo- 
site condition,  are  essential  as  well.  The  par- 
tial and  the  interrupted  fast,  whether  indi- 
cated in  the  manner  described  or  entered  into 
from  policy,  are  always  beneficial. 

The  post  mortem  examinations  cited  in  the 
text  reveal  the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  for 
one  to  die  in  the  fast  unless  the  vital  organs 
are  in  such  condition  prior  to  entering  absti- 
nence that  death  is  inevitable  whether  food  is 
taken  or  not.  Symptoms  severe  in  character 
result,  in  the  fast  or  out  of  it,  from  organs 
that  are  below  normal  in  size  or  that  are  mis- 
placed or  defective  in  structure.  And,  when 
distressing  conditions  arise  in  the  fast,  the 
safer  and  the  saner  thing  to  do  is  to  continue 
the  omission  of  food  to  the  point  of  purifica- 
tion, rather  than  to  return  to  feeding  or  to  re- 

45 


FASTING 


sort  to  the  partial  fast.  The  process  of  elimi- 
nation accomplishes  but  one  thing — the  cast- 
ing out  of  waste — and  to  return  to  feeding 
puts  extra  labor  upon  organs  already  over- 
taxed. Vital  parts  are  often  defective  in 
structure  due  to  wrong  treatment  in  the 
growing  period,  or  to  inherent  deficiency, 
and  then,  when  the  fast  is  invoked,  the  symp- 
toms are  invariably  distressing.  When,  dur- 
ing the  omission  of  food,  symptoms  of  pain 
and  distress  are  aggravated,  and  resort  to 
food  is  taken,  the  trouble  is  only  increased, 
and  the  patient  finds  himself  in  deeper  water 
than  before. 

Fruit  juices  and  liquid  vegetable  foods  are 
the  proper  diet  indicated  when  the  fast  is 
broken  before  its  completion  or  at  its  logical 
end,  since  these  are  easily  handled  and  place 
no  great  tax  upon  digestion.  When  acid 
fruits  are  not  tolerated,  the  fast  may  be 
broken  on  vegetable  broths  alone.  Various 
vegetables  and  cereals  lend  themselves  readi- 
ly to  the  preparation  of  broths  suitable  for 
the  purpose  named.  Tomatoes,  carrots, 
asparagus,  rice,  and  barley,  and  garden  pro- 
duce generally  may  be  utilized.  But  nothing 
can  quite  take  the  place  of  the  broth  from  to- 
matoes, for  this  vegetable,  though  slightly 

46 


WHENANDWHYTOFAST 

acid  in  composition,  seems  to  satisfy  both 
taste  and  nutrition  at  any  and  all  times. 
Even  in  a  fast,  when  serious  symptoms  are 
present,  the  broth  from  the  tomato  may  be 
given  for  the  relief  of  distress.  The  prepara- 
tion of  this  vegetable  may  be  referred  to  as 
a  counterpart  of  that  of  the  others,  and  it  is 
here  described.  Two  pounds  of  tomatoes  are 
stewed  with  about  two  cups  of  water.  The 
boiling  should  continue  for  approximately 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  and  the  broth 
should  be  slightly  seasoned,  then  strained  so 
that  no  large  solid  particles  enter  the  stom- 
ach. One  cup  of  this  product  served  hot  often 
answers  as  a  means  of  complete  relief  from 
pain,  and  it  is  the  ideal  food  upon  which  to 
break  a  fast  as  well. 

The  drinking  of  water  during  a  fast  is  not 
needful  unless  thirst  is  indicated.  When  the 
latter  sensation  makes  demand,  only  suffi- 
cient water  to  satisfy  it  should  be  taken.  The 
forcing  of  water  upon  the  body  when  no  de- 
sire exists  taxes  organs  already  burdened. 
Water  should  not  be  thrown  into  the  stomach 
in  gulps.  It  should  be  sipped,  especially 
when  fasting,  for  it  then  causes  no  shock  to 
the  system.  Thirst  is  not  always  evident  in  a 
fast,  since,  when  properly  conducted,  water 

47 


FASTING 


is  supplied  to  the  body  through  absorption 
from  the  vehicle  of  the  enema.  The  kidneys 
are  flushed  from  this  source,  and  the  fluids 
of  the  tissues  are  maintained  in  the  same 
manner.  A  knowledge  of  this  fact  will  re- 
lieve the  tortures  of  the  shipwrecked  mariner, 
for  an  enema  of  sea-water,  in  addition  to  its 
cleansing  properties,  will  satisfy  thirst. 


CHAPTER  IV 


PREPARATION  FOR  THE  FAST 


"Do  not  think  that  what  is  hard  for  thee  to  master 
if  impossible  for  man;  but  if  a  thing  is  possible  and 
proper  to  man,  deem  it  attainable  by  thee." 

Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus. 


CHAPTER 

PREPARATION  FOR  THE  FAST 

WHEN  disease  appears  in  human- 
kind, it  is,  as  said  before,  not  only  a 
warning  but  a  curative  process. 
The  disturbing  element  needs  removal,  the 
tired,  abused  organs  need  rest  and  repair. 
Instinctively  real  food  desire,  true  hunger, 
disappears ;  in  fact,  for  some  time  previous  to 
actual  disability,  hunger  has  been  absent. 
Appetite  or  stimulated  demand  for  susten- 
ance may,  however,  remain  in  evidence  even 
after  illness  is  manifest;  but  disease  and 
hunger  cannot  exist  at  the  same  time  within 
the  human  body. 

Bodily  functions  are  swift  in  their  adapta- 
bility to  circumstances,  and  bodily  organs  ac- 
comodate  themselves  and  their  labors  even  to 
abuse.  Consequently,  in  a  system  accustomed 
to  years  of  excess  food  supply,  nature  car- 
ries on  existence  in  spite  of  handicap  until 
accumulation  and  subsequent  decomposition 
institute  disease.  Were  the  subject  to  recog- 

51 


FASTING 


nize  the  fact  that  prevention  of  later  evil  lies 
entirely  in  his  own  hands,  the  greater  part  of 
physical  suffering  would  be  eradicated;  but 
prevention  compels  personal  denial  in  per- 
sonal habit  and  enjoyment;  and  denial  in 
these  respects  is  the  hardest  of  all  virtues  to 
inculcate  and  to  practice. 

The  simplicity  of  the  application  of  the 
fast  constitutes  its  chief  drawback.  To  the 
mind  convinced  on  final  argument  of  the  effi- 
cacy of  the  method,  nothing  is  more  easy  than 
to  begin  the  omission  of  the  daily  ration,  ir- 
respective of  the  mental  and  physiological 
changes  that  are  involved.  Food  stimulation, 
always  an  important  factor  in  disease,  as- 
serts the  power  of  habit  over  the  body;  and, 
even  though  the  will  of  the  patient  has  been 
brought  to  understand  the  futility  of  de- 
pendence upon  artificial  aids  to  health,  as  em- 
bodied in  medicine  and  in  methods  akin  to  it, 
general  knowledge  is  lacking  concerning  the 
proper  means  to  pursue  in  order  to  overcome 
habit  and  to  meet  the  physiological  mutations 
that  ensue  when  food  is  denied  the  body  for 
the  purpose  of  prevention  or  of  cure. 

The  cultivation  of  a  habit  is  a  slow  and  in- 
sidious process,  and  so,  in  lesser  degree,  is  its 
destruction.  Abruptly  to  cease  an  act  or  a 


PREPARATION  FOR  FAST 

bodily  function  that  has  become  constant 
causes  both  physical  and  mental  disturbances. 
Witness,  for  instance,  the  attempts  of  a  vic- 
tim of  tobacco,  alcohol,  or  morphine  to  escape 
from  the  toils.  Will  power,  the  highest  attri- 
bute of  mind,  alone  can  accomplish  the  result. 
In  many  cases  the  will  required  to  begin 
the  fast  is  present,  and  food  might  at  once  be 
denied  were  this  the  sole  consideration.   But, 
because  natural  physiological  change  is  al- 
ways gradual  in  fulfilment,  similar  approach 
to  absolute  cessation  of  function  is  not  only 
desirable  but  imperative.    The  ideal  way  of 
effecting  the  readjustment  of  organic  action, 
that  is  the  consequence  of  lowering  to  zero 
the  intake  of  food,  is  to  diminish  by  degrees 
the  amount  ingested.   To  omit  all  food  sud- 
denly when  approaching  a  fast  sets  the  stom- 
ach clamoring  for  supply  at  the  hours  which 
habit  has  fixed,  and  the  results  of  deprivation 
are  then  comparable  to  those  experienced  by 
the  toper  or  the  victim  of  drugs  when  drink 
or  narcotic  is  denied.  Nervous  reaction  is  at 
once  apparent  and  depression  follows.  Only 
in  acute  disease  should  abrupt  entrance  to  the 
fast  occur,  and  this  solely  because  nature  de- 
mands at  this  time  prompt  and  strenuous 
measures. 


FASTING 


Daily  baths  and  enemata,  mechanical  ac- 
cessories for  the  maintenance  of  cleanliness 
and  aids  to  elimination,  mark  the  commence- 
ment of  the  treatment ;  and  these  accompani- 
ments, with  the  omission  of  the  morning 
meal,  mark  the  first  stage  of  approach  to  the 
period  of  total  abstinence  from  food.  Omit- 
ting breakfast  and  lessening  quantity  at  the 
other  meals  paves  the  way;  and,  in  the  ordi- 
nary case  of  functional  disease,  the  gradual 
diminution  of  food  supply  should  occupy  an 
interim  of  not  more  than  ten  days  or  two 
weeks,  after  which  the  other  meals  should  in 
succession  be  dropped.  Thus  the  system  is 
prepared  without  any  noticeable  change,  save 
that  of  relief,  for  entire  deprivation  of  food, 
for  the  absolute  cessation  of  the  function  of 
digestion. 

In  the  event  that  the  omission  of  the  morn- 
ing meal  occasions  undue  distress,  as  some- 
times happens,  ripe  fruit  in  small  quantity 
may  be  eaten  at  the  usual  hour.  Caution  re- 
quires that  sweet  fruit  and  acid  fruit  be  not 
mixed  at  any  one  time.  Soups  made  of  vege- 
tables gradually  becoming  lighter  in  food 
value  should  constitute  the  remaining  meals, 
which  are  successively  dropped  until  all  food 
is  denied.  It  is  well  to  use  the  juices  of  fruit 

M 


PREPARATION  FOR  FAST 

alone  for  the  last  few  days  before  entering 
the  fast. 

In  the  ordinary  patient  the  omission  of 
breakfast,  as  suggested  above,  causes  slight 
disturbances,  such  as  dizziness,  headache,  or 
stomach  pains.  These  are  the  results  of  habit- 
change.  Later  they  disappear — usually 
within  three  or  four  days — and  there  are 
ordinarily  no  unpleasant  symptoms  when  the 
other  meals  are  omitted.  In  the  no-breakfast 
period,  elimination  of  digestive  toxins  begins 
to  gain  over  their  formation,  and,  as  the 
patient  gradually  diminishes  ingestion,  the 
fact  that  the  body  is  undergoing  a  cleansing 
process  becomes  most  evident  from  the  daily 
discharges  in  the  enemata,  and  from  the  odor 
that  emanates  from  the  skin  and  the  breath. 
These  results  make  it  apparent  that  years  of 
overburdened  digestive  functions  and  of 
consequent  imperfect  nutrition  have  loaded 
the  tissues  with  toxins,  and  that  a  complete 
cleansing  of  the  system,  with  rest  for  the  or- 
gans of  digestion  and  a  rearrangement  in  na- 
ture and  manner  of  food  supply,  is  neces- 
sary for  regaining  a  physical  balance.  A 
fresh  foundation  must  be  constructed  as  the 
old  is  removed,  and  a  change  in  internal  con- 
dition must  be  effected  by  destroying  the 

55 


FASTING 


active  cause  of  disease,  and  by  renewing, 
through  rest,  the  functions  of  those  organs 
that  have  been  long  hampered  in  operation. 

The  most  important  of  the  organs  con- 
nected with  the  digestive  process  is  the  liver. 
It  stands  at  the  portal  of  the  circulation  of 
the  blood  like  a  faithful  sentry.  It  receives 
digested  food  products,  as  they  are  absorbed 
through  the  walls  of  the  intestines,  and  it 
separates  that  which  may  be  used  for  the  re- 
building of  tissue  from  that  which  is  waste. 
Its  products  are  thus,  on  the  one  hand,  blood 
filled  with  nutriment,  and,  on  the  other,  the 
peculiar  secretion  known  as  bile.  The  latter 
it  stores  in  the  gall  bladder,  whence  it  is  sup- 
plied to  the  intestines  as  needed  in  the  diges- 
tion of  food.  Nature  is  loath  to  cast  out  any 
material  as  useless,  and  the  function  of  the 
liver  by  which  constituents  of  the  blood, 
otherwise  useless,  are  utilized  for  further  di- 
gestive operation  in  the  form  of  bile,  is 
one  of  the  most  striking  instances  of  her 
economy. 

When  overworked  by  overfeeding  or  other 
abuse,  the  liver  cannot  perform  its  function 
of  inspection  successfully,  and  more  or  less 
of  the  poison  retained,  absorbed  from  fer- 
menting refuse  in  the  intestines,  is  carried 

56 


PREPARATION  FOR  FAST 

into  the  circulation.  Excess  of  bile  is  mani- 
fested, and  with  it  the  headache,  the  cold,  or 
the  bilious  attack  appears,  all  warnings  of 
further  disease. 

The  minute  cells  of  the  liver  have  indi- 
vidual work  to  perform  in  separating  nutri- 
tive matter  from  waste;  and,  unless  care  be 
taken  to  furnish  a  food  supply  correct  in  pro- 
portion and  quality,  bile  is  secreted  in 
amount  larger  than  the  system  demands  or 
requires,  and  is  itself  absorbed  and  re- 
absorbed,  with  additions  from  other  sources, 
until  congestion  results,  the  circulation  is 
vitiated,  and  the  bowels  are  filled  with  bilious 
toxins  that  poison  and  re-poison  indefinitely. 
All  habits  having  a  tendency  to  cause  diges- 
tive disturbance,  such  as  the  use  of  tobacco 
or  alcohol,  careless  eating  and  overeating, 
hinder  the  functioning  of  the  liver.  Any 
clogging  or  interference  with  its  duties  pre- 
vents the  blood  from  receiving  the  benefit  of 
its  inspection,  and  an  impure  product  is  the 
result.  All  parts  of  the  body  will  show  dis- 
tressing symptoms  of  fatigue  and  of  exhaus- 
tion if  the  cells  of  the  liver  become  diseased 
or  useless  through  intemperate  living  or 
through  ignorance  of  the  specific  duty  be- 
longing to  it  as  an  organ  of  the  human  ma- 

57 


FASTING 

chine.  And  this,  of  course,  is  true  with  refer- 
ence to  the  functions  of  any  other  of  the  vital 
organs  of  the  body ;  but  so  closely  is  the  liver 
allied  to  the  immediate  work  of  digestion  that 
the  detailed  description  given  of  its  labors 
is  deemed  essential  to  a  full  understanding  of 
the  method  discussed  herein. 

As  will  be  discovered,  there  are  two  distinct 
plans  to  be  followed  when  the  fast  is  used  as 
a  means  for  the  relief  and  cure  of  disease. 
One  of  these  requires  the  patient  to  continue 
the  period  of  abstinence  to  its  logical  and 
complete  conclusion,  the  return  of  hunger, 
and  its  duration  is  problematical.  The  other, 
of  equal  value  in  milder  complaints  than 
those  for  which  the  finish-fast  is  employed, 
makes  use  of  shorter  intervals  of  abstinence 
from  food,  alternating  with  periods  of  re- 
stricted diet.  What  has  been  written  in  this 
connection  may  then  be  qualified  to  the  ex- 
tent that,  when  short  fasts  of  one  or  two  days, 
or  of  a  week,  are  undertaken  for  the  relief 
of  temporary  indisposition  or  for  the  preven- 
tion of  acute  disease,  no  such  extended  pre- 
paration as  is  described  is  needful.  For  the 
long  fast,  the  fast  that  cleanses  the  system  to 
purity,  preparation  as  outlined  must  be  pre- 
cedent. The  short  fast  and  the  compulsory 

58 


PREPARATION  FOR  FAST 

fast  in  acute  disease  alone  may  be  abruptly 
begun. 

The  salutary  caution  is  added  that,  when 
impending  illness  is  apparent,  several  weeks 
or  even  months  of  preparatory  diet  will 
render  the  system  amenable  to  the  complete 
cleansing  results  of  the  absolute  fast,  and, 
barring  organic  defects,  will  preclude  many 
unpleasant  consequences  in  symptoms.  The 
value  of  the  enema  or  internal  bath  during 
both  the  period  of  preparation  and  the  fast 
itself,  as  well  as  its  employment  in  health, 
will  later  be  fully  discussed. 


CHAPTER  V 


SYMPTOMS 


"Every  excess  causes  a  defect;  every  defect,  an  ex- 
cess. Every  sweet  hath  its  sour;  every  evil,  its  good. 
Every  faculty  which  is  a  receiver  of  pleasure  has  an 
equal  penalty  put  on  its  abuse.  It  is  to  ansrver  for 
its  moderation  with  its  life." 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SYMPTOMS 

DISEASE  symptoms  are  the  evidences 
of  the  conditions  present  within  the 
body,  and  they  indicate  with  more  or 
less  accuracy  the  degree  of  functional  or  of 
organic  disturbance.  In  addition  they  enable 
the  experienced  observer  to  localize  the  point 
of  least  resistance, — the  organ  prevented 
from  proper  performance  of  its  task.  In 
fasting,  these  signs  of  disease,  during  the 
first  days  of  abstinence,  are  seen  to  be  exag- 
gerated or  seemingly  increased  in  severity; 
but  this  is  a  logical  consequence  of  the  ap- 
plication of  a  method,  the  purpose  of  which 
is  that  of  elimination  of  a  clogging,  circulat- 
ing poison.  The  extreme  process  of  casting- 
out  in  progress  during  the  fast  uncovers  the 
seat  of  disease,  and  exaggerates  in  the  very 
cure  itself  its  characteristic  signs.  To  the 
orthodox  mind  this  phenomenon  at  once  sug- 
gests an  increase  in  severity,  since  to  it  the 
symptom  itself  represents  a  cause.  But,  re- 

63 


FASTING 


garding  disease  as  a  unity,  or  as  arising  from 
a  single  primary  source,  the  intellect  trained 
in  the  application  of  natural  means  of  treat- 
ment finds  no  cause  for  fear,  but  rather  rea- 
son for  rejoicing.  Nature  has  entered  the 
open  avenue  of  assistance  presented  and  is 
proceeding  rapidly  to  effect  relief  and  cure. 

In  any  method  for  the  treatment  of  disease 
nothing  can  be  done  unless  nature  co-oper- 
ates. In  some  methods  her  means  of  cure, 
elimination,  triumphs  in  spite  of  the  treat- 
ment, and  this  is  nowhere  so  fully  displayed 
as  in  traditional  orthodoxy,  which  is  trained 
to  look  upon  the  symptom,  or  the  appearance 
of  disease,  as  its  cause.  As  a  result  the  ef- 
forts of  medicine  have  been  directed  to  check, 
to  suppress,  to  turn  into  other  channels,  the 
sign  manifested.  The  fact  has  been  and  is 
ignored  that,  thus  turned  aside  and  unre- 
moved,  disease  is  certain  of  return  in  re- 
doubled force. 

The  whole  of  the  human  race  has  been  edu- 
cated for  years  along  wrong  curative  lines. 
For  instance,  in  orthodoxy  if  the  heart  action 
is  high,  a  depressant  drug  is  administered ;  if 
it  is  low,  a  stimulant  is  given.  In  either  case 
reaction  occurs,  and  the  organ  is  less  able  to 
recuperate  when  the  clogged  channels  of 

64 


SYMPTOMS 


bodily  energy  finally  are  cleared  sufficiently 
for  function.  This  occurs  when  nature  as- 
serts herself,  as  she  often  does,  in  spite  of  the 
drug.  When  the  sign  of  distress  appears 
upon  the  surface  of  the  skin,  attempts  are  at 
once  in  order,  not  to  remove  the  inward  cause, 
but  to  eradicate  the  outward  appearance,  "to 
drive  it  in."  Orthodoxy  refuses  to  admit  the 
unity  of  disease,  and  hence  neglects  to  assist 
in  the  cleansing  process  of  nature,  which, 
recognizing  the  cause,  ignores  the  symptom, 
or  uses  it  solely  as  a  guide.  The  thought  and 
hope  of  the  physician  trained  to  heed  the 
warnings  of  disease  from  a  natural  view- 
point is  this — that  the  organs  of  the  body  of 
his  patient  may  prove  equal  to  the  work  of 
elimination,  and  this  they  can  accomplish 
only  when  they  are  structurally  intact.  In 
spite  of  the  mildness  or  the  severity  of  its 
manifestation,  it  is  through  bodily  purifica- 
tion alone  that  disease  can  be  cured. 

Since  the  physiological  changes  involved 
in  the  application  of  fasting  for  the  cure  of 
disease  need  to  be  made  gradually,  the  ideal 
method  of  approach  to  the  period  of  abstin- 
ence is  to  prepare  the  system  by  a  gradual 
lessening  of  the  food  supply;  but,  whether 
begun  in  this  manner  or  without  preparation, 

65 


FASTING 


as  is  necessary  in  acute  disease,  the  resultant 
symptoms  are  in  general  alike.  When  the 
intake  of  food  is  stopped,  the  stomach  is 
naturally  emptied  and  commences  its  en- 
forced vacation.  All  of  its  energy  as  an  or- 
gan is  then  applied  to  recuperation,  to  allay- 
ing with  the  assistance  of  a  blood-current 
continually  gaining  in  purity,  inflammation 
that  may  be  present  in  its  structure,  and  to  re- 
lieving congestion  in  veins  and  in  glands.  It 
will  from  time  to  time  be  disturbed  in  this 
work  by  its  neighboring  organ,  the  liver, 
which,  during  the  fast,  becomes  solely  an 
instrument  of  elimination,  and  discharges 
quantities  of  refuse  into  the  alimentary  canal. 
The  secretion  of  the  liver  is  always  a  waste 
product,  but,  even  as  such,  it  has  its  use  as  a 
digestive  fluid  in  health.  When  the  fast  is  in 
progress,  however,  this  product  of  elimina- 
tion is  discharged  into  the  intestines,  and  is 
nothing  more  than  poisonous  refuse  excreted 
from  tissue,  blood,  and  organs,  which  must 
be  at  once  removed  from  the  body  lest  it  be 
reabsorbed  into  the  circulation. 

When  food  is  taken  away,  the  bowels  still 
proceed  to  collect  the  waste  deposited  in  them 
by  the  blood  and  the  liver;  the  kidneys,  the 
lungs,  and  the  skin  continue  the  process  of 

66 


R.  J.  Malnutrition  and  spinal  curvature.  Subject 
fasted  twenty-eight  days,  taking  special  exercises  for 
spinal  curvature.  Curvature  corrected  and  general  health 
remarkably  improved.  Photograph  taken  three  months 
after  completion  of  fast. 


SYMPTOMS 


elimination;  and  the  whole  sewerage  system 
of  the  body  centers  its  entire  energy  in  an 
effort  to  clear  away  the  impurities  stored 
within.  The  stomach  rests,  while  the  involun- 
tary absorptive  functions  continue  their 
work,  even  upon  excreted  tissue  waste ;  and, 
lest  harm  result,  the  most  expeditious  me- 
chanical means  must  be  employed  to  remove 
this  product  from  the  digestive  tract.  The 
blood,  following  its  mission,  gathers  the  ref- 
use from  cell  structure,  and  supplies  for  re- 
building purposes  what  it  finds  available. 
This  it  discovers  in  the  reserve  supply  of 
nourishment  naturally  stored  in  the  inters- 
tices of  tissue.  As  the  process  of  elimination 
or  purification  continues,  waste  grows  less; 
the  density  of  the  blood  is  reduced  gradually, 
as  refuse  diminishes  in  quantity;  and  the 
labor  of  the  heart  is  thus  progressively  light- 
ened. 

Heart  action  is  low  in  some  cases  of  dis- 
ease, and  it  is  high  in  others.  It  is  low  when 
the  blood  is  loaded  with  waste  and  is  dense  or 
thick  in  quality.  It  is  high  when  fermenta- 
tion of  refuse  in  the  intestines  occurs,  with 
absorption  of  active  poison  into  the  circula- 
tion. But,  whether  high  or  low,  poisonous 
products  are  present  in  the  bloo<J.  A  circulat- 

07 


FASTING 


ing  poison  acting  upon  the  nerves  that  con- 
trol the  heart  may  develop  irregularities  that 
seem  to  show  organic  structural  defect,  and 
these  are  often  so  diagnosed.  But,  following 
the  argument  of  the  text,  it  is  plain  that, 
whatever  the  symptom,  improvement  in  heart 
action  must  necessarily  result  in  the  fast 
when  elimination  becomes  sufficiently  ad- 
vanced to  remove  the  poisonous  refuse  that  is 
the  cause  of  disease.  No  fear  need  be  enter- 
tained as  to  the  ability  of  the  heart  to  per- 
form its  functions  during  a  fast,  for  the  or- 
gan has  less  work  to  do  as  each  day  goes  by, 
and  it  is  served  with  the  increased  nerve 
power  of  a  system  gradually  purifying. 

When  the  fast  is  once  begun,  elimination 
asserts  its  predominance.  Desire  for  food  is 
in  many  cases  replaced  by  disgust  at  the 
thought  of  it,  and  appetite  is  lacking  until 
the  fast  is  complete.  The  very  odor  of  food, 
and  even  the  perfume  of  flowers  is  to  some 
patients  nauseating.  When  this  symptom  is 
present  in  aggravated  form,  it  is  an  almost 
certain  indication  of  organic  defect  that  may 
prove  fatal.  In  this  sign,  however,  in  both 
functional  and  organic  disease,  there  may  be 
variations,  due  more  or  less  to  the  time  de- 
voted to  preliminaries ;  and  several  instances 

68 


SYMPTOMS 


are  of  record  in  which  neither  appetite  nor  a 
semblance  of  it  was  present  throughout  the 
entire  period  of  abstinence.  Other  cases  have 
claimed  the  sensation  of  false  hunger  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  fast. 

Another  general  symptom  is  discovered  in 
the  fact  that  the  tongue,  immediately  upon 
the  omission  of  food,  dons,  in  ordinary  cases, 
a  thick  yellowish-wrhite  coat,  which  it  keeps 
until  the  impurities  within  the  body  are  elimi- 
nated; and  the  clearing  of  its  surface  is  one 
of  the  important  signals  that  indicate  a  com- 
plete and  successful  fast.  When  the  secre- 
tions of  the  body  are  acid  in  character,  an  ap- 
parently clean  tongue  may  develop,  and  in 
this  event  strict  interpretation  of  the  symp- 
tom might  lead  to  the  inference  that  the  sys- 
tem is  cleansed  and  is  ready  for  food.  But 
here  pulse  and  temperature  give  needed 
guidance,  and  the  condition  of  the  mucus 
membrane  of  the  mouth,  or  cankers  upon  the 
tongue  are  warnings  sufficient  for  the  prac- 
ticed mind.  The  coat  deposited  upon  the 
tongue  is  one  of  the  simplest  visible  signs  of 
an  extremely  foul  internal  state,  and  of  the 
fact  that  elimination  is  rapidly  taking  place. 
In  health  a  clean  tongue,  as  defined  medi- 
cally, is  seldom  in  evidence  with  a  full  stom- 

69 


FASTING 


ach.  Ordinarily  here,  food  stimulation  domi- 
nates elimination,  for  a  foul  tongue  is  only 
an  indication  of  the  attempt  of  nature  to  cast 
out  impurity  from  the  system.  Except  as 
previously  stated,  a  clean  tongue  is  one  of  the 
unfailing  signs  of  a  complete  and  successful 
fast,  and  it  may  take  months  to  accomplish. 

Like  the  tongue,  the  breath  becomes  loaded 
with  evidences  of  the  internal  condition,  and 
its  odor  is  most  offensive  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  fasting  period.  This,  too,  is  an  indi- 
cator of  the  progress  of  the  cleansing  pro- 
cess which  the  body  is  undergoing,  and  the 
termination  of  the  fast  is  heralded  by  its  be- 
coming odorless. 

One  of  the  products  of  fermentation  with- 
in the  body  is  known  by  the  chemical  name  of 
acetone.  There  is  no  doubt  that  acetone,  the 
result  of  the  decomposition  of  organic  mat- 
ter, is  present  to  greater  or  less  degree  in 
many  cases  undergoing  the  fast.  It  is  not 
necessarily  a  product  of  the  albumen  of  the 
food,  but  is  more  probably  the  result  of  the 
destruction  of  that  part  of  the  body  albumen 
that  has  come  from  the  breaking  down  of 
the  tissue  cells.  In  other  words,  the  produc- 
ing material  has  served  its  purpose  as  living 
cell  growth.  In  cases  treated  medically  its 

TO 


SYMPTOMS 


presence  is  regarded  with  dread,  and  at  times 
when  it  appears,  as  it  does,  in  anaesthetized 
subjects  under  the  surgeon's  knife,  opera- 
tions have  been  abandoned  because  of  the 
fear  of  death  while  the  paralysis  of  the 
anaesthetic  endures.  Its  presence  in  a  patient 
undergoing  the  fast  indicates  functional  de- 
rangement of  more  than  ordinary  gravity. 
In  health  there  is  no  production  of  acetone, 
since  discarded  cell  tissue  is  eliminated  before 
fermentation  can  occur.  Once  food  is  denied 
and  cell  refuse  is  discharged  into  the  channels 
of  evacuation,  acetone,  when  it  is  present,  ap- 
pears in  all  the  excretions,  and  its  characteris- 
tic ether-like  odor  is  most  pronounced.  In 
fact  in  these  instances  one  of  the  signs  of  the 
beginning  of  the  end  of  the  fast  is  found  in 
the  disappearance  of  acetone  from  urine, 
breath,  and  excreta.  It  is  no  longer  formed, 
since  the  body  is  again  in  position  to  produce 
normal  healthy  cell  structure  balanced  by 
normal  elimination  of  waste. 

In  disease  it  is  quite  usual  to  observe  un- 
pleasant body  odors.  These  are  manifesta- 
tions of  an  unclean  interior,  manifestations 
which  nature  seeks  to  remove  through  the 
organs  of  elimination,  not  the  least  of  which 
is  the  skin.  One  experienced  in  the  treatment 

71 


FASTING 


of  mental  diseases  becomes  expert  in  dis- 
tinguishing the  marked  odor  attached  to  most 
lunatics.  Even  in  the  milder  nervous  de- 
rangements, such  as  hysteria,  the  odor  of  the 
body  becomes  distinctly  changed,  and  is  fre- 
quently noticed  by  the  patient  himself.  Ef- 
iluvium  is  present  in  many  disease  symptoms 
other  than  those  of  the  mind  and  of  the 
nerves — witness,  for  instance,  the  distinct 
odor  characteristic  of  tuberculosis  of  the 
lungs.  In  the  fast  the  one  function  par- 
amount is  that  of  elimination ;  and  due  to  this 
fact  the  body  odor  at  this  time  is  decidedly 
more  noticeable  than  in  ordinary  disease 
when  food  is  supplied.  So  true  is  this  that  the 
presence  of  a  fasting  patient  in  a  closed  room 
can  at  once  be  detected  by  one  familiar  with 
the  treatment  and  its  results. 

In  cases  of  acute  disease  and  in  what  is 
known  as  bilious  temperament,  after  the  fast 
has  begun,  annoying  symptoms  may  develop, 
— dizziness  on  rising  suddenly,  spots  before 
the  eyes,  and  general  malaise  and  weakness. 
But  these  signs  are  not  found  in  every  in- 
stance and  cannot  be  established  as  guides. 
Some  there  are  who  may  abstain  from  food 
for  from  thirty  to  forty  days  without  any 
disagreeable  symptoms  save  an  offensive 

72 


SYMPTOMS 


breath  and  coated  tongue,  while  there  are 
others  in  whom  all  the  signs,  thus  far  de- 
scribed, are  in  evidence  in  gradually  diminish- 
ing intensity  until  the  end  of  the  fast. 

The  experience  of  the  fast  is  often  trying 
to  those  who,  by  high  living  and  overfeeding, 
have  given  the  liver  work  beyond  its  capacity. 
Bile,  extracted  from  the  circulation  and 
stored  in  gall  bladder  and  liver,  is  cast  out  in 
large  quantities  and  floods  the  intestines  to 
such  degree  that,  often  before  it  can  be  car- 
ried downward,  the  stomach  finds  itself  a  de- 
pository for  the  surplus,  which  fact  is  noted 
by  nausea  and  vomiting.  There  is  no  absolute 
certainty  of  the  appearance  of  this  sign,  but 
it  is  usually  present  in  the  subjects  referred 
to.  In  extreme  form  this  symptom  indicates 
a  liver  in  some  stage  of  disintegration,  and 
recovery  is  doubtful.  However,  in  one 
known  instance  during  a  fast,  vomiting  of 
bile  occurred  for  twenty-six  days  in  succes- 
sion, with  later  restoration  to  health. 

For  the  reason  that  excessive  vomiting  of 
bile  is  a  symptom  that  indicates  the  proba- 
bility of  organic  disease  of  the  liver  or  of  the 
intestinal  tract,  in  these  cases  caution  is  urged 
in  the  application  of  the  protracted  fast.  The 
symptom  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  alarming 

73 


when  the  fluid  raised  is  yellow  or  yellowish- 
green  in  hue,  and  when  nausea  occurs  at  in- 
frequent intervals.  But,  if  the  color  changes 
to  a  vivid  green  or,  as  it  does  in  instances  of 
acute  organic  derangement,  to  black,  the  case 
may  be  considered  as  most  serious  in  charac- 
ter and  of  doubtful  prognosis.  When  nausea 
is  present  during  a  fast,  it  is  far  better  to  aid 
elimination  in  ridding  the  stomach  of  its  con- 
tents through  the  mouth  than  to  permit  them 
to  remain  with  the  certainty  of  partial  re- 
absorption  and  re-toxication.  If  difficulty  is 
found  in  raising  the  contents  of  the  stomach, 
titillation  of  the  palate  with  the  end  of  the 
finger  or  with  a  feather  will  cause  the  con- 
vulsive muscular  contraction  necessary;  and 
the  drinking  of  warm  water  will  ease  the  act 
of  retching  and,  at  the  same  time,  will  cleanse 
the  walls  of  the  stomach. 

There  are  patients  with  livers  organically 
diseased  who  undergo  the  fast  without  the 
appearance  of  bilious  vomit.  Observation  in 
post  mortem  examinations  leads  to  the  con- 
clusion that  these  subjects  are  invariably  ef- 
fected with  some  stage  of  a  cirrhosed  or 
hardened  liver,  and  are  outwardly  of  an  ema- 
ciated or  wiry  type.  On  the  other  hand,  those 
in  whom  excessive  vomiting  occurs  during 

74 


SYMPTOMS 


the  fast  are  always  inclined  to  obesity  and  at 
death  display  a  liver  disintegrated  or  soft- 
ened. Of  the  two  types  the  chances  for  re- 
covery are  greater  with  the  latter. 

Bile  thrown  into  the  stomach  may  produce, 
through  irritation  of  its  walls,  spasmodic  con- 
traction of  the  diaphragm,  i.  e.,  hiccoughs. 
They  may  also  occur  as  the  result  of  other 
abnormal  stimulation  of  the  diaphragmatic 
nerve,  and  this  happens  frequently  in  cases 
of  any  affection  of  the  liver  or  of  the  intes- 
tines. When  merely  functional  disturbance 
causes  this  annoying  symptom,  it  may  quick- 
ly be  relieved  by  vomiting  qr  by  the  drinking 
of  cold  water;  but,  if  it  persists,  it  points  to 
serious  conditions,  and  in  the  later  stages  of 
disease,  it  is  proof  of  organic  defects  beyond 
repair  and  heralds  the  approach  of  death. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  the  fast  there  will 
probably  be  fermentation  and  consequent 
formation  of  gas  in  the  intestines,  which  may 
continue  for  days,  depending  upon  the 
amount  of  solid  material  clinging  to  bowel 
walls,  and  also  upon  what  may  be  termed  the 
virulence  of  the  bile  and  other  waste  de- 
posited in  the  alimentary  canal.  The  gas 
formed  is  often  the  cause  of  colicky  pains, 
and  is  always  a  source  of  uncomfortable  mo- 

75 


FASTING 


ments  until  removed.  Manipulation  of  the 
abdomen  together  with  hot  water  applica- 
tion's are  of  great  assistance  in  this  event, 
since  they  tend  to  reduce  inflated  intestines 
by  stimulating  peristalsis,  and  thus  bring 
about  the  discharge  of  the  gas.  The  enema  is 
also  of  the  utmost  value  in  these  circum- 
stances and  must  be  employed. 

In  all  cases  in  the  fast  the  evacuations  from 
the  bowels  are  strikingly  similar.  Floating 
in  a  brownish  fluid  that  shades  to  black  in 
color  are  old  f  eces  more  or  less  abundant  in 
quantity.  The  latter  are  present  for  many 
days,  and  are  evidence  of  the  former  state- 
ment that  overworked  bowels  do  not  fully 
discharge  their  contents  even  when  regular 
in  action. 

The  more  usual  indication  of  disease  as  it 
affects  body  temperature  is  fever,  but  it  is 
guite  frequently  the  case  that  in  anaemic  sub- 
jects, shortly  after  the  beginning  of  a  fast, 
the  temperature  drops  to  a  degree  or  so  be- 
low normal.  This  is  caused  by  the  absence  of 
food  stimulation,  for  a  fast  never  lowers 
temperature.  The  latter  is  always  below 
register  in  instances  of  long-standing  de- 
bility, and  it  is  high  in  proportion  to  the  se- 
verity of  acute  disease.  The  fast  tends  to 

76 


SYMPTOMS 


restore  temperature  and  pulse  to  normal,  be 
they  high  or  low  at  its  inception.  It  is  well 
to  note  that,  while  the  average  normal  tem- 
perature of  the  body  is  98  2-5  degrees,  and 
the  average  normal  pulse  is  about  72  beats 
to  the  minute,  these  figures  are  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  normal  for  each  and  every  indi- 
vidual. There  are  variations  both  above  and 
below  that  are  not  to  be  considered  as  arising 
in  every  instance  from  disease.  A  case  is 
cited  in  which  temperature  before  the  fast 
was  habitually  ninety-four  degrees;  in  the 
fast  apparently  no  change  was  made  until 
the  twentieth  day,  when  an  increase  of  one- 
half  degree  was  noted;  average  normal  of 
ninety-eight  degrees  was  reached  ten  days 
later.  Here  undoubtedly  disease  was  the 
cause  of  low  register.  Many  cases  have  been 
observed  in  which  temperature  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fast  was  so  low  as  not  to  admit  of 
register  upon  the  clinical  thermometer,  but 
invariably  average  normal  was  reached  be- 
fore the  end  of  abstinence.  When  conditions 
of  abnormally  low  temperature  are  present 
during  the  fast,  hot  applications  along  the 
spinal  column,  and  hot  tub-baths  are  the 
means  to  be  employed  to  assist  internal  elimi- 
nation in  restoring  body  heat  to  normal.  In 

77 


FASTING 

any  case  temperature  is  merely  a  symptom 
of  the  conditions  within,  and,  whether  high 
or  low,  it  denotes  that  there  is  in  progress  a 
fight  for  life  that  has  scarce  need  to  be  sup- 
pressed. No  thermometer  is  necessary  to 
read  the  severity  of  disease,  and,  if  pulse  and 
temperature  are  above  or  below  normal  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fast,  they  will  descend  or 
ascend  to  natural  register  when  disease  disap- 
pears, or  perhaps  while  some  of  its  symptoms 
are  still  in  evidence.  The  general  conditions 
described  in  this  paragraph  in  connection 
with  temperature  below  normal  occur  in  the 
cases  of  almost  all  f  asters.  These  are  aggra- 
vated in  certain  temperaments,  more  especi- 
ally in  those  who  suffer  from  the  wasting 
forms  of  illness,  such  as  hardening  of  the 
liver,  and  mal-assimilation. 

When  the  fast  is  concluded  and  the  body 
has  been  rebuilt,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  a  vege- 
tarian diet  insures  a  pulse  and  temperature 
with  no  apparent  tendency  to  rise  above  indi- 
vidual normal.  If  the  dietary  change  has 
been  one  from  flesh  to  vegetable,  the  pulse 
may  show  reduction  of  several  beats  from  its 
former  average. 

One  word  more  concerning  bodily  tem- 
perature in  the  fast :  Physiology  asserts  and 

78 


SYMPTOMS 


observation  proves  that  there  can  be  no  di- 
gestion in  the  absence  of  digestive  juices,  and 
that  there  is  almost  no  secretion  of  the  fluids 
when  fever  is  present.  Why,  then,  feed  dur- 
ing high  temperature?  Without  digestion 
there  can  be  no  nourishment,  no  upbuilding 
of  wasted  tissue.  Why  add  the  burden  of 
eliminating  undigested  material  to  the  al- 
ready great  effort  that  nature  is  making  to 
reduce  over-stimulated  heart  action  and  ab- 
normal body  heat?  The  surest  means  to  cor- 
rect this  condition  is  to  withhold  food,  to  re- 
move the  refuse,  and  to  rest  those  organs  that 
are  functionally  unable  to  cope  with  the  labor 
forced  upon  them. 

Depending  upon  the  physical  tendencies 
of  the  individual,  after  the  beginning  of  the 
fast  and  during  its  early  stages,  many  symp- 
toms not  specifically  described  in  this  chapter 
may  develop.  In  some  a  rash  upon  the  skin 
appears,  and  in  others  a  cold  with  excessive 
nasal  and  bronchial  discharge  is  the  form  in 
which  the  purifying  process  at  work  is  dis- 
played. But  these  and  all  other  signs  that 
occur  at  this  time  may  be  ascribed  in  part  to 
the  depression  succeeding  food  stimulation, 
and  in  part  to  the  exceedingly  great  elimi- 
nation of  waste  that  is  in  progress.  The  lat- 


FASTING 


ter  is,  of  course,  responsible  for  the  larger 
number  of  symptoms  that  appear  here  and 
hereafter  in  the  fast.  After  the  first  indica- 
tions vanish,  in  cases  of  purely  functional  dis- 
ease, the  patient  discovers  that  his  strength 
has  apparently  increased,  and  that  he  is,  in 
most  instances,  able  to  attend  without  diffi- 
culty to  ordinary  labor  and  to  approach  it 
with  brain  marvelously  clear.  In  other 
words,  with  the  loss  of  stimulation  due  to 
food  poison,  disease  decreases,  and  real 
strength  is  manifest.  The  patient  is  not  less 
weak  nor  more  strong  than  at  any  time  dur- 
ing his  previous  diseased  existence  when  liv- 
ing under  stimulation.  The  fast  has  but  un- 
covered the  true  state  of  affairs,  and  it  has 
demonstrated  that  a  sick  man  is  not  of  neces- 
sity a  weak  man,  for  weakness  is  absence  of 
strength  due  to  systemic  poison  alone,  and, 
in  the  early  stages  of  illness,  strength  is  only 
dormant.  This  seemingly  paradoxical  state- 
ment is  explained  by  the  fact  that  in  disease 
all  avenues  for  the  passage  of  energy  and 
vitality  are  so  clogged  by  cumulative  waste 
products  as  to  be  rendered  almost  useless  for 
the  expression  of  these  forces. 

The  subject  of  food  stimulation  has  not  re- 
ceived the  attention  that  it  deserves  in  any 

80 


SYMPTOMS 


system  of  therapeutics,  for  it  is  always  an 
important  factor  in  disease.  After  the  body 
has  become  accustomed  to  a  fixed  food  sup- 
ply, whatever  the  quantity  or  the  hours  of  in- 
gestion,  it  strenuously  rebels  when  denied. 
The  system  may  be  greatly  overfed;  it  may 
be  slowly  poisoning  itself  through  its  own 
indiscretions ;  yet  the  omission  of  a  meal  sets 
the  stomach  clamoring.  Given  the  usual 
quota,  matters  progress  comparatively 
smoothly  until  the  excess  proves  too  heavy  to 
be  carried,  or  some  minute  organism  finds 
soil  in  which  to  increase  and  multiply;  then 
nature  calls  a  halt  and  attempts  correction  by 
her  only  remedy,  disease.  Opportunity  oc- 
curs when  the  accustomed  impetus,  food,  is 
removed,  but  the  patient  is  plunged  into  the 
depths.  Stimulation,  so  long  a  habit,  now 
seems  necessary  to  counteract  the  symptoms 
produced  by  deprivation,  and  here  mentality 
must  be  called  to  the  rescue,  and  the  will  must 
be  asserted  in  order  to  overcome  the  disposi- 
tion and  the  desire  to  resume  feeding. 

The  kidneys,  the  lungs,  and  the  skin  are 
the  main  avenues  through  which  the  liquids 
of  the  body  carrying  with  them  soluble  im- 
purity are  eliminated.  In  the  fast,  when  any 
of  these  means  of  escape  are  clogged  and 

61 


FASTING 

their  functions  impeded  because  of  defect  in 
structure  in  themselves  or  in  the  intestines, 
or  because  of  excess  of  waste,  the  salivary 
glands  excrete  in  quantity,  and  constant  ex- 
pectoration of  viscous,  foul-smelling  spittle 
is  symptomatic  of  the  conditions  described. 
This  symptom  abates  and  ceases  as  the  func- 
tions are  restored,  and  it  may  be  much  allevi- 
ated by  hot  baths  and  by  sweat-inducing 
fomentations. 

The  headaches  of  the  fast  are  invariably 
located  in  the  frontal  portion  of  the  brain, 
and  are  coincident  with  the  prior  stage  of 
abstinence,  when  the  system  is  accomodating 
itself  to  the  physiological  change  of  habit 
then  in  progress.  As  elimination  proceeds 
this  symptom  disappears,  and,  in  functional 
disturbances,  the  brain  experiences  more 
rapid  relief  from  pain  and  distres>  than  do 
the  other  organs.  Connected  with  icadache, 
when  organic  defects  exist,  are  visual  spectra 
and  flashes  of  light.  A  muscular  tremor,  ac- 
companied with  a  rotary  motion  of  the  eye- 
ball, or  even  with  crossed  eyes  and  faulty 
vision,  sometimes  appears  in  the  graver 
forms  of  organic  disease.  This  peculiar 
variation  in  symptom  has  been  observed 
shortly  before  death  in  the  fast,  and  in  ex- 
H 


SYMPTOMS 


treme  form  it  would  seem  to  indicate  ap- 
proaching dissolution. 

At  an  early  stage  in  the  fast  partial  deaf- 
ness with  humming  in  the  ears  is  apt  to  occur. 
When  this  happens,  careful  and  constant 
syringing  of  the  outer  ear  with  warm  water 
discloses  an  excessive  quantity  of  wax,  after 
the  removal  of  which,  the  annoying  symp- 
toms vanish.  The  presence  of  this  secretion 
in  amount  above  normal  indicates  the  ex- 
treme of  elimination  to  which  the  body  lends 
itself  while  digestion  is  suspended.  Cases, 
which,  before  the  fast,  have  suffered  from 
semi-deafness,  find  the  symptom  much  ag- 
gravated until  mechanical  removal  of  the 
clogging  mass  of  wax  is  accomplished. 
Every  avenue  of  escape  is  utilized  by  nature 
in  the  process  of  elimination  in  progress  dur- 
ing the  fast,  and  the  ears  perform  their  part 
in  company  with  the  eyes,  the  nose,  the 
mouth,  and  the  eliminative  organs  them- 
selves. 

At  the  end  of  a  fast  remarkable  evidences 
of  complete  renewal  of  the  old  body  are  dis- 
played. The  hair  falls  profusely;  tartar  de- 
posits upon  the  teeth  are  shed ;  diseased  spots 
in  dental  substance  are  sloughed;  and  ex- 
treme forms  of  pyorrhea,  those  affecting  the 

83 


FASTING 


bone  of  the  teeth,  are  wholly  corrected. 
Finger  and  toe  nails  are  sometimes  replaced 
from  beneath  with  complete  new  growth,  the 
old  horny  covering  being  forced  from  posi- 
tion and  cast  off.  All  these  indications 
demonstrate  not  only  renewal  of  secretion 
and  of  cell-structure,  but  purification  as  well. 
In  the  rebuilding  period  perfect  replacement 
occurs. 

Emaciation  in  the  fast  cannot  properly  be 
regarded  as  a  symptom.  It  is  the  result  of  the 
elimination  of  toxic  products,  together  with 
the  loss  occasioned  by  the  use  by  brain  arid 
nerves  of  the  reserve  food-supply  stored  in 
tissue  interstices.  Diminution  of  weight  due 
to  the  latter  cause  is,  however,  very  slight  in 
comparison  with  that  arising  from  elimina- 
tion. Wasting  of  the  body  is  greater  in 
cases  where  the  organs  are  atrophied  or  cir- 
rhosed  than  in  other  forms  of  disease,  but  the 
loss  is  less  in  these  instances  than  in  those  of 
functional  disease  or  of  organic  hypertrophy. 

Delirium  in  disease  is  not  necessarily  an 
alarming  symptom.  A  temporary  condition 
of  mental  aberration  apparent  in  confusion 
of  thought,  incoherency  of  speech,  and,  in 
some  instances,  unconsciousness,  is  character- 
istic of  certain  natures,  whenever  the  body 

84 


SYMPTOMS 


temperature  rises  above  a  fixed  point.  This 
is  possibly  an  inherited  tendency,  for,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  are  many  temperaments 
whose  minds  retain  control  in  any  and  all 
forms  of  disease,  when  the  brain  itself  is  not 
the  seat  of  disturbance.  In  the  treatment  of 
functional  disease  by  the  fast,  it  is  rarely  the 
case  that  delirium  occurs,  and,  if  it  does,  its 
appearance  is  due  to  extreme  auto-intoxica- 
tion from  excessive  waste  thrown  into  the 
intestines  and  not  evacuated  with  sufficient 
rapidity.  If  present  at  all,  it  will  be  evident 
within  a  day  or  so  after  the  fast  begins,  and 
it  will  cease  when  elimination  has  proceeded 
to  the  point  of  clearing  the  bowels  from  the 
congested  mass  of  old  f  eces.  This  symptom 
need  never  appear  in  cases  of  purely  func- 
tional derangement,  if  proper  preparation 
for  the  fast  has  been  observed.  In  instances 
where  abstinence  from  food  is  forced  and  in- 
voluntary, as  is  the  case  in  mine  accidents  and 
in  shipwrecks,  the  mental  strain  produced  by 
the  situation  causes  delirium,  which,  together 
with  speedily  fatal  results,  might  be  obviated 
were  knowledge  of  the  resources  of  the 
human  body  more  general.  In  organic  dis- 
ease, in  the  fast  or  before  it,  delirium  may 
continue  for  some  time,  and,  while  its  prim- 

85 


FASTING 


ary  cause  is  one  with  that  in  functional 
troubles,  its  persistence  is  due  to  defects  in 
organs  that  prevent  elimination  into  the  in- 
testines, or  to  defects  in  the  intestines  them- 
selves that  hinder  evacuation  naturally  or  by 
mechanical  means.  If  recovery  be  possible, 
these  cases  are  most  obstinate  in  yielding  to 
treatment,  for  the  process  of  cleansing  is  ex- 
tremely slow  and  lengthy  in  accomplishment, 
while  recuperation  is  delayed  indefinitely. 
This  class  of  cases  requires  more  patience  and 
caution  than  all  others  combined,  since  the 
patient  is  apt  to  become  discouraged  and  to 
lose  faith  in.  the  power  of  nature  to  overcome 
the  condition.  Resort  to  food  and  drugs  may 
again  be  had,  and  the  outcome,  doubtful  be- 
fore, is  now  inevitably  fatal.  The  lesson  to 
be  learned  when  this  situation  confronts 
physician  and  patient  is  that  of  organic  limi- 
tation. The  vital  organs  are  capable  of  func- 
tion only  within  bounds,  beyond  which. are 
danger  and  possible  death.  Safety  rests  in 
natural  processes  alone;  danger  lies  in  tonics 
and  in  food. 

A  general  classification  of  the  symptoms 
of  disease  tending  to  limit  certain  signs  to 
certain  ailments  can  never  be  made  with  ac- 
curacy. It  is  true  that  medicine  has  ticketed 

86 


SYMPTOMS 


and  shelved  all  symptoms,  and  that  it  is  its 
plan  to  await  development  of  indications  be- 
fore diagnosis.  But  medicine  devotes  its  at- 
tention entirely  to  the  suppression  of  the 
manifestation  to  the  neglect  of  its  cause,  and 
a  classification  thus  made  finds  items  over- 
lapping each  other  in  such  manner  as  to  make 
distinction  difficult  if  not  impossible.  But  an 
arrangement  of  general  disease  forms  may 
be  made  on  lines  that  are  sharply  defined. 

1. — Purely  functional  ailments  that  readi- 
ly yield  to  the  fast.  In  these  cases  because 
of  accumulation  of  excess-food-rubbish  in 
the  digestive  tract,  blood,  and  tissue,  organs 
are  hampered  in  function  but  are  not  struct- 
urally defective  or  in  themselves  diseased. 
Gradual  improvement  is  noted  from  the  be- 
ginning of  preparation  for  the  fast,  and  re- 
covery is  always  possible. 

2. — Organic  defect  in  slight  degree,  oc- 
casioning disturbance  because  of  work  im- 
perfectly performed  by  a  partially  disabled 
organ.  This  condition  places  heavier  burdens 
upon  other  organs  and  functionally  unbal- 
ances the  entire  system.  Disagreeable  symp- 
toms are  noted  in  these  cases  during  the 
progress  of  the  fast,  and  it  is  possible  that 
full  functioning  may  never  be  restored. 

87 


FASTING 


However,  if  the  structural  defect  has  not 
reached  the  point  that  includes  the  case  in  the 
following  class,  and,  if  care  be  exercised  dur- 
ing the  period  of  convalescence,  recovery  is 
certain. 

3. — Organic  defect  of  such  degree  that  the 
functioning  of  a  vital  organ  is  rendered  im- 
possible. A  gradual  decline,  beginning  be- 
fore treatment  and  continuing  with  a  short 
interval  of  relief  after  entering  the  fast,  is 
the  characteristic  indication.  The  relief  noted 
may  be  such  as  to  offer  hope  of  recovery,  but, 
if  the  condition  is  as  stated,  there  is  no  pos- 
sibility of  cure. 

In  functional  disease,  when  her  laws  are 
obeyed,  nature  never  fails  of  cure.  She  is 
helpless  only  when  organic  defects  exist  that 
defy  repair. 

The  careful  study  of  the  symptoms  of  dis- 
ease, as  they  occur  either  while  feeding  or 
fasting  is' in  progress,  reveals  the  law  through 
which  nature  works  to  a  cure.  It  may  briefly 
be  stated  as  a  process  of  elimination,  upon 
lines  of  least  resistance,  of  the  toxins  pro- 
duced by  functions  imperfectly  performed. 
These  signs  of  distress  may  often  be  locally 
relieved  by  mechanical  means  embodying 
heat,  water,  sunlight,  air,  and  manipulation, 


SYMPTOMS 


but  disease  can  never  be  eradicated  by  mere 
suppression  of  symptom.  It  must  be  re- 
moved at  its  source;  and,  despite  its  varied 
expression,  there  is  but  one  cause,  impaired 
digestion,  and  one  remedy,  elimination  of 
resulting  poison. 


89 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  DURATION  OF  THE  FAST 


"Physic,  quick  to  affect  the  body,  can  never  produce 
the  perfect  results  of  the  slow  operations  of  exercise 
and  temperance — the  two  great  instruments  of  health." 

Addison. 


91 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  DURATION  OF  THE  FAST 

THE  duration  of  the  complete  fast  is  a 
matter  that  can  neither  be  foretold  nor 
prescribed  in  any  individual  case,  for 
the  treatment  has  its  beginning  in  disease 
and  its  end  in  the  hunger  that  marks  the  re- 
turn of  digestive  power.  Until  the  latter 
makes  itself  apparent,  and  it  cannot  be  mis- 
taken, the  fast  should  continue.  Then,  and 
not  till  then,  is  the  system  in  condition  again 
to  receive  and  transform  food  into  tissue 
structure. 

The  sensation  of  hunger  is  a  safeguard 
established  by  nature  to  insure  bodily  main- 
tenance. It  is  the  first  instinct  that  the  infant 
exercises  at  birth,  and  its  office  in  all  life  is 
that  of  a  watchful  caretaker  entrusted  with 
interests  beyond  the  ordinary  in  value..  The 
natural  consciousness  of  hunger  has,  in  most 
individual  instances,  been  usurped  by  artifi- 
cial craving  produced  through  the  cultivation 
of  the  sense  of  taste  and  through  regularity 

93 


FASTING 


in  the  habits  of  feeding.  Hunger  is  an  in- 
voluntary function  of  the  system — as  much 
so  as  is  the  beating  of  the  heart.  It  is  not 
created  by  the  individual,  nor  does  it  make 
its  appearance  at  stated  hours  by  exercise  of 
the  will.  But  appetite,  its  counterfeit,  is 
easily  called  into  being  and  may  be  made  ap- 
parent at  set  times. 

In  diseased  conditions  hunger  is  absent; 
and,  in  the  fast,  appetite  ordinarily  disap- 
pears after  the  first  few  days.  When  the 
elimination  of  toxic  products  is  complete, 
hunger,  not  appetite,  returns.  Hunger  is 
normal,  appetite  abnormal.  This  distinction 
with  a  difference  is  most  important  con- 
sidered in  connection  with  the  breaking  of  a 
fast.  The  question  of  the  resumption  of  feed- 
ing does  not  lie  for  answer  in  the  hands  of 
either  physician  or  patient.  It  rests  with  the 
law  of  hunger  alone.  During  the  fast  and 
until  hunger  returns,  food  of  any  kind  is  an 
intruder,  and  all  of  the  energy  of  the  body  is 
being  directed  through  the  organs  of  elimi- 
nation towards  the  cleansing  of  the  system 
from  its  self-manufactured  poison.  The 
coated  tongue,  the  foul  breath,  are  simple 
signs  of  the  decomposition  of  excess  food  and 
of  worn-out  tissue.  And,  being  signs  of  de- 

94 


DURATION    OF    THE    FAST 

composition,  they  are  also  signs  of  the  death 
of  life  substance  and  of  living  organism,  the 
products  of  which  are  harmful  unless  re- 
moved from  the  functioning  body.  When 
the  elimination  of  these  toxins  has  reached 
the  point  that  rebuilding  is  demanded  lest 
the  body  die,  hunger  will  manifest  itself. 
Hunger  is  the  abiding  law  of  animal  exist- 
ence; it  is  not  a  creation  of  man  nor  of  the 
animal,  but  is  the  signal  of  instinct  by  which 
all  animate  creatures  know  that  food  is 
needed  for  the  repair  and  growth  of  the  or- 
ganism. And,  with  its  manifestation,  the 
clean  tongue,  the  sweet  breath,  and  normal 
life  symptoms  return. 

In  functional  disease  the  fast  may  be  car- 
ried to  its  logical  end  without  a  particle  of 
anxiety,  for  the  law  of  hunger  marks  the 
limit  beyond  which  abstinence  cannot  con- 
tinue lest  death  occur.  And  to  this  nature 
has  added  another  safeguard,  almost  its 
equal  in  importance.  Resident  in  the  body 
there  exists  at  all  times  a  supply  of  tissue 
pabulum  for  use  in  repair  and  growth,  both 
ordinary  and  extraordinary.  This  is  con- 
stantly called  upon  for  the  nourishment  and 
upbuilding  of  nerves  and  brain,  and  the  lat- 
ter never  suffer  deterioration  in  substance 

95 


FASTING 


nor  in  structure  unless  they  themselves  are 
organically  diseased.  Even  in  instances  of 
death  from  alleged  starvation,  nerve  tissue 
shows  no  loss.  It  makes  use  of  the  normal 
food  reserve  stored  in  the  interstices  of  mus- 
cular tissue,  and;  fasting  or  feeding,  it  draws 
upon  this  accumulation  for  support.  The 
whole  nervous  system  regains  its  energy  by 
rest  alone,  but  it  maintains  its  substance  at 
par  by  the  means  described.  Hence,  so  long 
as  there  remain  tissue  and  blood  sufficient  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  the  functions  and  of 
the  circulation,  brain  and  nerves  must  con- 
tinue their  directing  task,  and  they  cannot 
waste  in  the  process. 

The  statement,  that  a  supply  of  healthy 
tissue-food  exists  during  a  fast  and  is  not 
exhausted  until  natural  hunger  returns,  does 
not  rest  for  proof  upon  the  mere  assertion 
of  medical  observation  in  alleged  starvation. 
In  the  chapter  of  the  text  devoted  to  cases 
cured  by  fasting  an  instance  is  cited  of  heal- 
ing by  first  intention  during  a  fast  of  fifty- 
eight  days  of  a  sore  three  inches  in  diameter, 
so  virulent  in  character  that  the  .periosteum 
of  the  sacrum  was  exposed.  Two  cases  of 
pregnancy  are  also  noted  in  which  the  moth- 
ers fasted  twenty-two  and  thirty  days  respec- 

96 


DURATION    OF    THE    FAST 

lively.  In  the  bodies  of  each  of  these  women 
the  growth  of  the  foetus  was  progressive  and 
normal,  despite  the  total  omission  of  food 
intake.  Due  to  disease,  hunger  was  absent  in 
the  pregnant  women,  but  a  supply  of  nour- 
ishment sufficient  to  maintain  the  body  of  the 
mother  and  to  build  that  of  the  forming  child 
existed  within  and  was  utilized  until  natural 
hunger  returned  at  the  completion  of  the 
fast.  This  stored  nourishment  is  always  pres- 
ent in  tissue  structure;  it  is  the  factor  of 
safety  in  physical  economy,  and  it  is  elimi- 
nated only  at  the  time  when  in  the  fast  com- 
plete purification  of  the  system  has  occurred 
and  hunger  is  asserted. 

The  signs  of  a  fully  completed  fast  are 
most  easily  recognized.  The  tongue  is  pink 
and  clean,  the  breath,  sweet,  and  appetite  or 
false  hunger  is  replaced  by  natural  desire  for 
food,  a  sensation  exquisite  beyond  descrip- 
tion, that  may  be  realized  only  by  a  clean, 
pure,  regenerated  system.  Natural  hunger 
relishes  natural  food,  and,  once  it  is  known, 
no  morsel  is  without  delight. 

If  the  human  body  ate  only  when  hunger 
makes  demand,  perfect  balance  would  at  once 
be  created  between  intake  and  outgo,  up- 

9T 


FASTING 


building  and  waste.  Mastication,  which  is 
the  mechanical  part  of  ingestion,  must,  of 
course,  be  correctly  accomplished  to  insure 
this  result.  Hunger  is  discriminative  and 
preserves  the  body.  Appetite  is  abnormal 
desire  and  ultimately  destroys.  Hunger  is 
primarily  indicated  in  the  mouth,  and,  if  not 
relieved,  becomes  an  organic  craving  that 
can  be  satisfied  only  by  digestible  food;  but 
appetite  is  silenced  when  even  indigestible 
substances  are  ingested. 

After  the  fast,  with  the  return  of  normal 
hunger,  the  food  selective  sensations  of  taste 
and  smell  are  also  restored.  These  faculties 
in  average  existence  are  trained  to  accept 
material  and  odor  abhorrent  to  naturally 
constituted  organisms;  but  in  normal  state, 
while  dependent  upon  true  hunger,  they  act 
as  minor  indicators  in  determining  the  point 
that  marks  the  conclusion  of  the  fast.  And 
with  them  thirst  appears — not  that  desire 
for  liquid  produced  by  stimulation  or  by 
drug-exhaustion  of  the  fluids  of  the  body, 
but  that  which  makes  known  the  immediate 
need  for  their  renewal.  The  body  that  eats 
when  hunger,  not  appetite,  calls,  that  drinks 
when  thirst,  not  stimulation,  demands,  and 
that  follows  unquestioningly  the  selective 

98 


DURATION    OF    THE    FAST 

sensations  of  taste  and  of  smell,  need  never 
know  disease. 

It  is  sometimes  the  policy  of  good  judg- 
ment to  break  the  fast  before  the  system  is 
completely  cleansed,  to  return  to  it  after  an 
interval  of  dieting;  but  this  is  so,  solely  be- 
cause of  the  wide-spread  ignorance  of  the 
human  body  and  its  care,  and  because  of  the 
advantage  that  orthodoxy  has  taken  of  this 
fact  for  commercial  and  other  reasons.  The 
mind  of  the  patient  thus  becomes  imbued 
with  groundless  fear  of  death,  and  more 
harm  than  good  results  on  account  of  the 
mental  strain.  From  the  same  motive,  policy 
may  indicate  shortening  the  period  of  ab- 
stinence when  the  certainty  of  the  presence  of 
organic  disease  exists,  or  when  preparation 
has  been  carelessly  performed  or  entirely 
omitted.  But,  even  though  organic  defects 
are  present,  the  body  in  disease  is  more  cer- 
tain of  recovery  when  the  fast  is  applied, 
since  the  labor  of  the  organs  is  in  process  of 
gradual  reduction,  and  progressive  relief  is 
afforded  the  system  as  a  whole.  The  only 
hope  of  partial  recuperation  or  of  permanent 
cure  lies  in  the  rest  given  to  overworked  or 
defective  organs,  permitting  them,  if  pos- 
sible, to  recover  and  to  resume  their  functions. 

99 


FASTING 


The  question  regarding  the  duration  of  a 
fast  is,  then,  one  that  can  never  be  answered 
with  certainty,  and  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  each  individual  develops  his  own  case, 
and  that  each  case  has  its  own  limitations  and 
requirements.  In  view  of  these  conditions, 
the  fact  is  to  be  faced  that  no  matured  human 
body,  in  which  disease  is  manifest,  can  be 
brought  to  health  within  a  limited  period  of 
time.  It  has  required  years  of  abuse  and  of 
drugging  to  cause  disease,  and  it  is  unreason- 
able to  assume  that  nature  in  a  few  short 
weeks  or  months  can  bring  about  the  physio- 
logical changes  necessary  to  perfect  func- 
tioning. 

The  fast  completed,  the  body  exists  in  a 
sphere  of  natural  condition,  and  there  are  no 
circumstances  in  which  there  is  so  much  of 
real  gratification  in  the  simpler  acts  that  con- 
stitute physical  life.  To  eat  rationally,  to  eat 
only  at  the  demand  of  hunger  and  not  to  ex- 
cess, become  exquisite  pleasures,  marred 
with  no  grief  for  the  flesh  pots  nor  for  the 
loss  of  appetite. 

What  the  fast  requires  is  ability  to  follow 

logically  the  details  of  a  great  but  simple 

law,  the  law  of  hunger,  which,  once  obeyed, 

brings  health  for  the  asking,  and  demands 

100 


DURATION   OF   THE   FAST 

only  individual  reason,  effort,  and  will;  but, 
once  violated,  condemns  the  offender  to  con- 
dign and  lasting  punishment. 


CHAPTER  VII 


BREAKING  THE  FAST 


'  'Tis  in  ourselves  that  rve  are  thus  and  thus.  Our 
bodies  are  gardens;  to  which  our  wills  are  gardeners: 
so  that  if  rve  will  plant  nettles  or  sow  lettuce,  set 
hyssop  and  weed  up  thyme,  supply  it  with  one  gender 
of  herbs  or  distract  it  with  many,  either  to  have  it 
sterile  with  idleness  or  manured  with  industry,  why, 
the  power  and  corrigible  authority  of  this  lies  in  our 
wills.  If  the  balance  of  our  lives  has  not  one  scale 
of  reason  to  poise  another  of  sensuality,  the  blood  and 
business  of  our  natures  would  conduct  us  to  most  pre- 
posterous conclusions:  but  we  have  reason  to  cool  our 
raging  motions,  our  carnal  stings,  our  unbitted  lusts." 

Shakespeare,  "Othello." 


103 


CHAPTER  VII 

BREAKING  THE  FAST 

INJUDICIOUS  fasting,  fasting  without 
preparation,  fasting  for  extended 
periods  without  guidance,  and  fasting 
for  the  sake  of  following  a  method  merely  be- 
cause it  is  popular  for  the  moment,  are  all 
severely  condemned.  The  fast  should  be  un- 
dertaken only  for  the  cure  of  disease,  and  it 
should  be  scientifically  applied.  In  disease,  if 
adverse  conditions,  other  than  those  appar- 
ent, are  latent  in  the  system,  if  nature  has 
been  carrying  the  burden  of  an  imperfect 
organism,  the  fast  is  certain  to  uncover  the 
fact,  and  symptoms  will  be  revealed  that 
need  to  be  coped  with  by  competent  hands. 
It  is,  however,  probable  that,  when  purely 
functional  derangements  are  in  question,  the 
self -guided  patient  will  progress  to  a  favor- 
able end,  but  will  not  be  equal  to  the  problem 
of  breaking  the  fast  with  success.  This  is  a 
point  of  such  importance  that  detailed  com- 
ment is  essential  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 

105 


FASTING 


a  clear  insight  into  the  matter  of  diet,  hy- 
gienic care,  and  exercise  after  abstinence  is 
ended. 

An  experienced  director  of  the  method  is 
only  too  well  aware  that  there  are  subjects, 
whose  number  entitles  them  to  be  distin- 
guished as  a  class,  who,  through  physical  de- 
fect, store  within  the  system  extraordinarily 
excessive  accumulations  of  food  poison. 
These  cases  are  grouped  under  Class  2  in 
the  division  of  general  disease  symptoms 
noted  in  a  previous  chapter.  In  them  constant 
stimulation  prevents  recognition  of  the  pres- 
ence of  toxic  products  until  some  serious  in- 
discretion overturns  the  balance,  and  a  fast 
is  begun,  usually  without  preparation  or  di- 
rection. Once  elimination  has  commenced, 
no  return  is  possible  until  the  logical  end  of 
the  cleansing  process  is  reached,  and  often 
alarming  symptoms  develop  ere  the  first 
week  has  elapsed.  The  attempt  is  made  at 
once  to  supply  nourishment,  and  digestive 
trouble  more  severe  in  kind  is  produced,  for 
the  alimentary  canal  is  filled  with  the  prod- 
ucts of  elimination,  and  food  but  adds  fuel  to 
the  combustion  in  progress.  Fear  now  takes 
possession  of  the  family  and,  more  often 
than  not,  of  the  patient  as  well,  and  the 

106 


BREAKING   THE   FAST 

deadliest  foe  to  nature  and  her  methods  of 
cure  is  called  to  aid  in  offsetting  the  work  al- 
ready accomplished.  Medicine  completes  in 
these  circumstances  what  food  began,  and  the 
chances  are  that  death  will  ensue.  No  de- 
fense of  the  fast  can  be  made,  and  it  is 
visited  with  wide-spread  and  emphatic  con- 
demnation, whereas,  were  the  facts  known 
for  their  real  worth,  the  conditions  arising 
therefrom  would  be  recognized  as  natural  in 
origin,  and  as  warnings  that  prodigious  and 
successful  efforts  towards  cure  were  at  work. 

To  break  the  fast  at  a  wrong  time  is  even 
worse  than  to  break  it  upon  erroneous  diet. 
The  point  of  greatest  import  here  to  be  ob- 
served is  the  care  that  should  be  given  and 
the  confidence  that  should  be  engendered  lest 
fear  step  in  and  with  it  food  and  drugs.  In 
the  administration  of  copious  enemata,  dupli- 
cated and  reduplicated,  for  the  purpose  of 
the  immediate  removal  of  disturbing  ele- 
ments lies  the  remedy  for  the  eradication  of 
alarming  signs. 

The  fast  in  ordinary  cases  should  be 
broken  by  the  ingestion  of  the  juices  of  ripe 
fruit,  and  of  broths  prepared  from  vege- 
tables. The  juices  of  perfectly  ripened 
fruit  are  most  easily  changed  in  mouth  and 

107 


FASTING 

stomach  for  the  subsequent  process  of  assimi- 
lation. There  is  therefore  but  small  effort  in 
digestion.  The  same  reasoning  is  applicable 
to  the  administration  of  strained  vegetable 
broths  seasoned  to  taste  and  void  of  solid  par- 
ticles. The  thought  that  bids  for  this  consid- 
eration of  the  digestive  organs  finds  origin  in 
the  fact  that  the  stomach  has  been  for  a  time 
deprived  of  the  exercise  of  its  function,  and 
return  to  solid  food  must  be  carefully  made. 
The  hunger  instinct  should  guide,  and,  after 
all  but  a  small  amount  of  sustenance  is 
needed  to  maintain  the  body.  A  caution  is 
appended  to  the  effect  that  the  juices  of 
sweet  fruits  should  not  be  mixed  at  any  time 
with  those  of  acid.  Vegetables  in  solid  form 
and  green  salads  are  gradually  added  to  the 
dietary  as  digestive  power  asserts  itself. 

There  are  many  vegetables  that  lend  them- 
selves readily  to  the  preparation  of  the 
broths  referred  to,  and  among  them  may  be 
mentioned  as  particularly  easy  of  digestion, 
ripe  tomatoes,  celery,  carrots,  and  green  peas. 
Some  of  the  cereals,  such  as  rice  and  barley, 
are  also  easy  to  prepare  and  to  assimilate  in 
the  form  of  broth.  Great  caution  is  essen- 
tial in  order  to  suit  the  diet  to  individual  re- 
quirement, and  slight  experiment  may  be 

108 


BREAKING   THE    FAST 

found  necessary  for  a  satisfactory  solution  of 
the  problem  presented. 

In  the  infant,  when  hunger  returns  after 
the  fast,  the  strained  juice  of  stewed  ripe 
tomatoes  or  of  boiled  carrots,  both  unsea- 
soned, is  most  suitable  preparatory  food.  To 
the  carrots  may  gradually  be  added  in  small 
quantity  top-milk  and  honey,  but  these 
should  never  be  combined  with  tomatoes  or 
with  acid  fruits.  This  regimen  should  be 
continued,  varying  the  vegetables  from 
which  the  broths  are  made  and  increasing 
their  quantity  as  digestion  advances,  until 
the  final  teeth  have  been  cut,  and  solids  may 
be  handled. 

In  late  popular  discussions  of  the  treat- 
ment of  disease  by  fasting  and  its  accessories, 
patients  have  been  advised  to  break  the  fast 
upon  large  quantities  of  cow's  milk.  From  a 
chemical  standpoint  the  milk  of  the  cow  con- 
tains all  the  nutritive  compounds  required  by 
a  growing  animal,  and  contains  them  in  the 
proportions  of  a  correct  scientific  dietary.  It 
does  not,  however,  fulfil  the  conditions  of  a 
typical  and  model  food  when  considered  as 
sustenance  for  man.  The  chemical  composi- 
tion of  milk  renders  it  a  most  suitable  soil 
for  the  cultivation  of  bacteria,  and,  even 

109 


FASTING 

though  Pasteurized  or  sterilized,  it  will  again 
take  up  germs  if  exposed  to  the  air.  In  ad- 
dition, sterilized  milk  is  a  different  article 
from  fresh  milk,  its  chemical  composition  be- 
ing altered  by  the  process.  The  milk  of  the 
cow,  when  ingested,  is  changed  upon  encoun- 
tering the  gastric  juices,  into  whey,  a  liquid, 
and  into  a  tough  mass  of  curd  most  difficult 
of  digestion.  To  call  milk  a  liquid  food  is 
absurd,  for  the  solid  matter  in  a  pint  of  milk 
is  equal  to  that  in  a  half  pound  of  meat,  and 
in  its  dense  coagulated  form  it  is  vastly  more 
difficult  of  digestion. 

In  the  present  discussion  the  digestive  ca- 
pability under  contemplation  is  that  of  an  in- 
dividual who  has  just  succeeded  in  ridding 
his  system  of  the  toxic  products  of  food  in 
excess  of  the  needs  of  the  body.  Hunger  has 
returned  and  feeding  must  be  resumed.  If 
the  milk  of  the  cow  is  the  form  in  which  nour- 
ishment is  supplied,  and  if,  in  addition,  not 
one  pint,  but,  as  recommended,  several  quarts 
daily  are  imbibed,  for  each  quart  consumed, 
an  equivalent  in  flesh  food  of  one  pound  is 
offered  for  digestion.  The  purpose  of  the 
fast  is  at  once  defeated,  since  the  most  vigor- 
ous of  bodies  is  unable  perfectly  to  transform 
and  to  assimilate  this  mass  of  material.  All 

no 


BREAKING   THE    FAST 

of  the  excess — and  most  of  it  is  excess — fills 
the  alimentary  tract  with  decomposing  rub- 
bish, and  the  system  is  again  in  the  develop- 
ing process  of  disease.  A  diet  including  or- 
dinary quantities  of  milk  succeeds  at  any 
time  in  depositing  adipose  tissue  and  in  creat- 
ing increased  bilious  flow.  At  the  very  best 
the  milk  of  the  cow  is  intended  only  as  food 
for  the  calf. 

When,  after  the  fast,  digestive  power  re- 
asserts itself,  the  enemata  are  discontinued 
daily,  but  they  should  be  administered  with- 
out question  at  least  twice  weekly  in  health. 
That  natural  movements  of  the  bowels  are 
dependent  upon  perfect  digestion  is  but 
slightly  qualified  by  the  statement  that  mus- 
cular tone  is  a  necessary  condition  in  the  in- 
testinal walls.  For  the  attainment  of  this 
state,  and  for  the  rebuilding  of  general  mus- 
cular quality,  a  system  of  judicious  exercise 
is  recommended  and  insisted  upon  when  the 
fast  is  broken  and  thereafter.  This,  like  diet, 
must  be  entered  upon  in  gradual  manner  and 
is  increased  and  extended  in  proportion  as 
the  body  shows  progressive  capability. 

The  process  involved  in  breaking  the  fast 
demands  extreme  caution  and  care.  At  the 
end  of  the  period  of  abstinence  and  with  the 
in 


FASTING 


return  of  hunger,  weak-willed  patients  are 
almost  certain  to  overstep  the  bounds  of  sup- 
ply. In  these  cases  acute  symptoms  may  de- 
velop, due  to  congestion  of  the  entire  circula- 
tory system.  The  brain  may  suffer  to  the 
extent  of  the  production  of  violent  delirium, 
and  all  the  organs  of  the  body  are  included  in 
the  revolt.  When  a  gradual  process  of  re- 
turn to  normal  amount  in  sustenance  is  not 
pursued,  all  the  benefits  of  the  fast  are  worse 
than  destroyed,  and,  if  will-power  be  lacking 
in  the  patient,  its  equivalent  in  supervision 
must  be  furnished  by  the  director  of  treat- 
ment. If  necessary,  personal  watch  must  be 
established  over  the  convalescing  subject. 

When  organic  defects  are  present  in  the 
colon,  they  may  or  may  not  prove  seriously 
shortening  to  life;  but,  when,  at  the  end  of  a 
fast,  feeding  is  resumed,  even  a  slight  dis- 
placement of  the  lower  bowel  may  retard 
elimination  to  such  degree  that  absorption  of 
fecal  material  proceeds  so  rapidly  as  to  cause 
severe  physical  and  mental  derangement. 
This  is  especially  so  in  cases  that  are  not  un- 
der guidance,  in  which  ignorance  of  conse- 
quence exists,  and  will-control  is  absent.  Yet, 
even  under  competent  supervision,  often- 
times desire  impels  the  patient  to  overeat. 

112 


BREAKING    THE    FAST 

This  tendency  must  be  controlled,  for  seri- 
ous and  disastrous  results  wait  on  premature 
excessive  demand  upon  the  eliminative  func- 
tion. Defective  or  normal  in  vital  parts, 
man  here  learns  to  live  within  the  limitations 
of  his  organs.  The  several  portions  of  the 
treatment  in  comparison  show  the  fast  itself 
is  easy  of  accomplishment.  Resumption  of 
feeding  calls  for  greatest  care. 


11* 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE  ENEMA 


"7  keep  at  delicate  around  the  bowel*  as  around 
the  head  and  heart; 

Divine  am  I  inside  and  out." 

Walt  Whitman. 


115 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  ENEMA 

IN  fasting  for  the  cure  of  disease,  the 
enema  is  a  necessary  daily  adjunct,  and, 
while  the  fast  is  in  progress,  it  should  be 
taken  on  rising  and  before  retiring.  In 
health  its  use  is  advised  at  least  bi-weekly, 
when  it  will  be  found  a  most  relieving  as  well 
as  cleansing  operation,  at  once  preventing 
accumulation  and  subsequent  absorption  of 
waste.  In  the  event  that  it  is  administered 
directly  after  a  movement  of  the  bowels,  con- 
vincing proof  invariabty  follows  that  com- 
plete evacuation  of  the  intestinal  contents  has 
not  occurred ;  that  there  is  a  residue  which,  if 
not  removed,  will  remain  to  ferment  and 
putrefy.  The  necessity  of  this  artificial  aid 
to  natural  bowel  movement  is  thus  apparent. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  fast,  peristaltic 
action,  in  the  absence  of  fresh  supplies  of 
food,  becomes  sluggish,  and  absorption  pro- 
ceeds through  the  walls  of  the  intestines  irre- 
spective of  the  material  present.  The  fluid 
111 


FASTING 


state  of  the  waste  thrown  into  the  bowels 
when  the  process  of  digestion  is  suspended, 
permits  of  easy  absorption  and  of  consequent 
septic  poisoning.  During  the  fast,  from  the 
first  day  of  abstinence  until  indications  point 
to  the  fact  that  the  cleansing  process  is  com- 
plete, large  amounts  of  brownish  foul-smell- 
ing discharges  are  evacuated,  mixed  with 
lumps  of  hardened  fecal  matter,  dislodged 
from  the  walls  of  the  intestines  or  impacted 
from  particles  excreted  in  the  process  of 
elimination.  In  long  fasts  another  feature 
more  or  less  noticeable  is  the  quantity  of 
stringy  white  or  yellowish  mucus  that  is 
evacuated.  The  latter  is  catarrhal  in  nature 
and  is  evidence  of  the  complete  renewal  that 
is  accomplished  when  the  fast  is  carried  to  its 
logical  conclusion. 

The  necessity  for  the  use  of  the  enema 
would  cease  to  exist  were  all  food  ingested 
perfectly  transformed  and  entirely  consumed 
in  tissue-building.  But  continued  excess  in 
supply  creates  imperfect  functioning  of  the 
digestive  organs.  Natural  bowel  movements 
depend  upon  food  perfectly  digested  or 
chemically  changed,  and  the  waste  products 
from  this  process  are  always  fully  eliminated. 
Imperfect  digestion  causes  imperfect  elim- 

118 


THE    ENEMA 


ination,  which  is  the  one  source  of  septic 
poisoning  and  of  subsequent  disease;  but  so 
long  as  food  ingested  is  cooked  food  and  soft 
food,  and  so  long  as  it  is  not  properly  masti- 
cated, just  so  long  will  assistance  be  required 
to  evacuate  the  contents  of  the  bowels.  In- 
ferentially  this  fact  has  been  recognized  for 
ages,  since  drug  statistics  show  that  ninety 
per  cent,  of  all  medication  is  aimed  at  the 
intestines. 

Objections  are  made  to  the  use  of  the 
enema  on  the  grounds  that  it  is  not  natural; 
that  it  tends  to  dilate  permanently  the  bowel ; 
and  that  its  constant  employment  will  ulti- 
mately destroy  the  functioning  of  the  colon. 
In  answer  to  the  first  difference  it  is  found 
that  drugs  taken  into  the  system  for  the  pur- 
pose of  causing  a  movement  of  the  bowels 
pass  through  a  process  similar  to  that  to 
which  ingested  food  is  subjected.  They  are 
acted  upon  by  the  digestive  juices  in  the 
stomach  and  small  intestine,  and  are  absorbed 
into  the  circulation.  The  liver,  in  its  capacity 
of  separator,  objects  to  their  introduction  as 
harmful  to  the  system  and  casts  out  with  in- 
creased secretion  of  bile  that  portion  which 
reaches  it.  The  nerves  governing  the  absorp- 
tive and  secretive  functions  of  the  stomach 

119 


FASTING 

and  intestines,  irritated  by  the  presence  of  a 
substance  foreign  and  noxious  to  the  diges- 
tive process,  are  stimulated  into  action  and 
cause  an  augmented  quantity  of  secretion  to 
be  poured  forth,  and  the  folds  of  the  colon 
are  filled  with  fluid  fouled  by  dissolved  fecal 
matter,  which  is  partially  absorbed  ere  evac- 
uation can  occur. 

Purgatives  in  medicine  are  drugs  which 
act  as  described,  and  they  are  divided  accord- 
ing to  their  supposed  peculiar  properties. 
Thus  there  are  cholagogues,  that  increase  the 
flow  of  bile,  and  intestinal  purgatives,  that 
act  on  the  intestinal  secretion,  e.  g.,  calomel ; 
or  that  increase  peristaltic  action,  e.  g.,  aloes 
and  cascara.  Again  there  are  drastic  purga- 
tives or  cathartics,  e.  g.,  croton  oil ;  and  mild 
aperients,  e.  g.,  compound  licorice  powder 
and  senna. 

Each  application  of  the  remedy  finds  the 
alimentary  tract  less  able  to  contend  against 
its  presence,  and,  in  order  to  obtain  the  de- 
sired effect  in  future,  larger  doses  are  neces- 
sary, more  of  the  digestive  fluids  of  the  body 
are  wasted,  and  the  cathartic  habit  becomes 
as  dangerous  as  continued  indulgence  in  mor- 
phine. By  it  digestive  juices  are  drawn  upon 
to  excess,  digestion  is  rendered  difficult,  if 

120 


THE    ENEMA 


not  impossible,  and  constipation,  with  dan- 
ger of  septic  poisoning,  is  aggravated.  If 
the  taking  of  purgatives  were  confined  solely 
to  adult  life,  the  tale  to  be  told  would  be 
utterly  different  in  character,  since  func- 
tional derangement  would  be  the  principal 
harm  effected.  But  cathartics  are  prescribed 
in  infancy,  and  their  indiscriminate  use  at 
this  period  of  life  is  one  of  the  great  causes 
of  intestinal  mechanical  defect,  such  as  is  de- 
scribed in  detail  in  the  chapter  dealing  with 
death  in  the  fast.  By  their  employment  in 
childhood  nutrition  is  lowered  through  result- 
ing digestive  disturbance ;  inflammation  thus 
engendered  is  soothed  with  opiates;  feeding 
and  fermentation  continue;  development  of 
the  intestinal  tract  is  arrested,  or  the  tract  in 
portions  is  functionally  paralyzed — an  or- 
ganic condition  that  cannot  be  corrected,  even 
by  nature  itself,  in  a  lifetime  of  later  natural 
existence.  How  different  the  outcome  were 
the  enema  administered  in  infancy  when 
functional  digestive  disturbance  and  con- 
stipation occur!  The  results  are  immediate 
and  are  attained  with  no  tax  upon  digestion. 
The  delicate  nervous  fabric  of  the  child  suf- 
fers no  disastrous  reaction  when  bowel 
accumulation  is  thus  naturally  removed,  and 

121 


FASTING 


internal  purity,  the  condition  of  health,  is 
reached  and  thereafter  assured. 

To  the  objections  that  the  bowel  is  perma- 
nently dilated,  and  its  functioning  lost  by 
continued  use  of  the  enema,  a  detailed  reply 
is  necessary.  The  intestine,  as  a  whole,  is 
that  part  of  the  alimentary  canal,  which,  com- 
mencing at  the  pyloric  opening  of  the  stom- 
ach, is  coiled  in  the  abdominal  cavity  and  ends 
at  the  anus.  For  purposes  of  description 
it  is  divided  into  several  portions.  Food 
leaving  the  stomach  passes  first  into  the 
duodenum,  then  into  the  jejunum,  and  next 
into  the  ileum.  These  three  sections  form  the 
small  intestine,  which  in  man  is  about  twenty 
feet  in  length,  but  is  subject  to  great  varia- 
tions. The  lumen  of  the  small  intestine  is 
larger  at  its  upper  end  and  gradually  nar- 
rows as  it  goes  downward.  The  opening  of 
the  ileum  into  the  caecum,  the  first  portion 
of  the  colon,  is  valvular,  and  this  arrange- 
ment prevents  any  passage  backward  of  the 
intestinal  contents.  Beyond  the  ileo-caecal 
valve  the  caecum  forms  a  large  dilatation, 
and  from  it  springs  an  elongated  blind  proc- 
ess, the  vermiform  appendix.  The  caecum  is 
continued  upward  as  the  colon,  which  is  de- 
scribed as  (1)  ascending,  (2)  transverse, 

122 


THE    ENEMA 


(3)  descending.  The  sigmoid  flexure,  a  de- 
vice of  nature  that  prevents  excessive  pres- 
sure by  the  contents  of  the  bowel  upon  the 
muscles  of  the  rectum  and  the  anus,  lies  be- 
tween the  descending  colon  and  the  rectum, 
whose  lower  opening,  the  anus,  is  guarded 
by  a  strong  circular  muscle.  The  sigmoid 
flexure  thus  interrupts  the  straight  fall  from 
the  transverse  portion  of  the  large  intestine 
to  the  rectum  and  acts  as  a  retaining  pouch. 

From  this  description  it  will  be  seen  that 
there  are  three  positions  in  which  the  colon 
may  receive  a  supply  of  water  sufficient  to 
soften  its  contents  and  to  wash  them  away 
from  its  walls.  These  are  the  right-side,  the 
knee-chest,  and  the  flat-on-the-back.  The 
latter,  except  in  bed-ridden  cases  and  in  chil- 
dren, is  inconvenient  to  assume,  but  the  two 
former  postures  are  found  to  be  comfortable 
and  easily  taken. 

When  the  patient  in  taking  the  injection 
lies  on  the  left  side,  gravity  can  assist  the 
flow  only  as  far  as  the  transverse  colon,  which 
in  this  position  is  a  perpendicular  tube  for- 
bidding further  passage  of  the  fluid  of  the 
enema.  Hence  only  one-third  of  the  bowel  is 
possible  of  flushing.  The  right-side  posture 
permits  the  water  to  flow  along  the  descend- 

123 


FASTING 

• 

ing  colon,  down  the  transverse  bowel,  and 
through  the  ascending  gut  to  the  caecum, 
completely  flushing  the  organ.  The  knee- 
chest  and  the  flat-on-the-back  positions  in- 
sure, with  even  greater  ease,  full  cleansing  of 
the  bowel.  When  the  injection  is  taken  in 
the  sitting  posture,  gravity  and  the  contents 
of  the  lower  portion  of  the  bowel  prevent  the 
rise  of  the  water  unless  some  special  device 
embodying  force  is  utilized;  even  then  only 
the  descending  colon  receives  the  benefit  of 
the  flow,  and  dilatation  of  the  rectum  and  the 
flexure  is  certain  to  occur,  with  possible 
mechanical  injury. 

Soap-suds,  salt,  soda,  and  the  like  are  to  be 
avoided  in  the  preparation  of  the  fluid  in  the 
injection.  Similarly,  oils  of  any  kind  are 
forbidden,  and  water  warmed  to  body  tem- 
perature, not  higher  than  100  degrees 
Fahrenheit,  should  be  the  only  flushing 
agent.  Absorption  of  a  portion  of  the  con- 
tents of  each  bag  is  almost  instantaneous,  so 
the  safer  plan  lies  in  using  no  foreign  sub- 
stance whatever.  Copious  discharge  from 
the  bladder  immediately  after  rectal  injec- 
tion is  the  common  indication  of  the  rapidity 
with  which  absorption  occurs  through  the 
walls  of  the  colon,  and  this,  in  itself,  is  proof 

124, 


4b 


4a 


View  of  (1)  esophagus,  (2)  stomach,  (3)  small  intestine, 
The  ascending  colon  (4a),  the  transverse  colon  (4b), 
and  the  descending  colon  (4c),  are  so  constructed 
that  it  is  impossible  to  flush  the  entire  large  intestine 
while  the  body  is  in  an  upright  position. 


THE    ENEMA 


that  there  is  fallacy  in  the  medical  sub-argu- 
ment against  the  use  of  the  enema  to  the 
effect  that  no  absorption  of  retained  fecal 
material  can  take  place.  But  medicine  goes 
even  further  in  the  process  of  self -stultifica- 
tion when  it  recommends  the  employment  of 
nutrient  enemata.  Denying  that  the  contents 
of  the  bowels  may  be  returned  in  part  to  the 
circulation  through  the  walls  of  the.  gut,  it 
nevertheless  affirms  that  food  material  may 
in  this  manner  be  absorbed.  It  therefore  as- 
sumes that  tissue  is  nourished  by  matter  that 
has  not  undergone  the  process  of  digestion. 
It  is  also  readily  seen  that  food  absorbed 
through  the  walls  of  the  colon  is  not  received 
by  the  portal  or  nourishing  part  of  the  cir- 
culation, but  enters  directly  into  the  venous 
blood,  which  is  itself  loaded  with  impurity 
awaiting  elimination.  To  deliver  household 
water  to  the  faucets  from  the  sewers  of  a  city 
Avould  be  deemed  an  act  of  insanity,  yet 
analogy  is  plainly  evident  when  this  method 
of  transmission  is  compared  with  that  of  food 
introduced  into  the  human  body  per  rectum. 
When  the  patient  is  bed-ridden  or  abnorm- 
ally weakened,  the  knee-chest  posture  in  tak- 
ing the  enema  may  prove  too  exhausting; 
and,  when  this  condition  exists,  a  canvas 

125 


FASTING 


stretcher  upon  which  the  subject  may  com- 
fortably lie,  can  be  placed  over  the  bath  tub. 
If  this  apparatus  cannot  be  procured,  a  tri- 
angular platform  of  three  boards  covered 
with  a  blanket  and  oil-cloth,  its  base  arranged 
so  as  to  cross  the  top  of  the  tub  beneath  the 
buttocks,  may  be  used  as  a  substitute.  By 
this  means  all  effort  on  the  part  of  the  patient 
in  retaining  position  is  removed,  a  matter  of 
the  utmost  importance  when  excessive  weak- 
ness is  present. 

The  operator  in  administering  the  enema, 
or  the  patient  himself,  will  often  find  it  need- 
ful to  repeat  its  application  to  the  extent  of 
twenty  or  more  quarts,  or  until  the  fluid  re- 
turns comparatively  colorless.  Observation 
shows  that,  even  to  the  twentieth  day  of  a 
fast  and  sometimes  thereafter,  great  amounts 
of  bile  and  mucus  appear  in  the  discharges. 
The  necessity  is  thus  apparent  of  the  daily 
use  of  the  enema.  Repetition  insuring  thor- 
ough cleansing  of  the  colon  is  most  essential 
in  employing  the  internal  bath,  for  the  injec- 
tion of  only  a  small  quantity  of  water  acts 
detrimentally  since  it  serves  to  render  the 
contents  of  the  bowel  easily  absorptive,  and 
is  not  in  amount  sufficient  to  be  evacuated 
freely.  For  this  reason  also  small  enemas  oc- 

126 


THE    ENEMA 


casion  weakness  in  the  patient,  an  additional 
objection  advanced  against  the  use  of  the  in- 
jection. Less  than  three  quarts  should  never 
be  administered  at  any  one  time.  It  may  be 
added  that  in  weakened  cases  the  effort  of 
ejecting  the  water  and  the  contents  of  the 
bowel  may  be  lessened  by  the  insertion  of  a 
colon-tube  to  a  depth  of  approximately  six 
inches  into  the  rectum ;  through  this  tube  the 
fluid  waste  and  small  particles  of  fecal  matter 
can  pass  without  difficulty.  Hence  no  matter 
how  weak  or  depressed  the  patient  may  be, 
the  enema  is  possible  of  administration  with- 
out undue  physical  depletion,  while  the 
utmost  relief  always  follows  the  removal  of 
body  filth. 

Erroneous  teaching  is  responsible  for  the 
assertion  that  the  continual  use  of  the  enema 
during  a  fast  or  in  health  will  occasion  weak- 
ness in  a  patient  and  lack  of  function  of  the 
colon,  and  that  natural  movements  of  the 
bowels  will  not  again  occur.  In  other  words, 
that  the  patient  will  thereafter  be  compelled 
to  resort  perforce  to  the  internal  bath  for 
bowel  evacuation.  Natural  movements  of 
the  bowels,  as  has  been  said,  are  directly  de- 
pendent upon  normal  digestion,  and  in  a  sys- 
tem organically  perfect  and  naturally  correct 

127 


FASTING 


in  digestive  and  assimilative  processes,  peris- 
talsis and  subsequent  evacuation  of  refuse 
products  occur  in  sequence.  No  instance  of 
loss  of  function  or  of  paralysis  of  the  bowel 
as  the  result  of  the  judicious  use  of  the  in- 
ternal bath  has  ever  been  observed  or  known 
in  the  course  of  the  long  experience  of  the 
writer.  On  the  contrary,  the  enema  has 
been  found  to  restore  natural  action  and  to 
act  as  a  tonic  stimulus  upon  the  muscles  of 
the  colon,  preventing  all  chance  of  septic 
poisoning  and  of  resulting  disease. 

Years  of  feeding  upon  other  than  natural 
foods  and  of  excess  consumption  have 
brought  about  conditions  in  the  body  of  man 
that  leave  no  doubt  as  to  food  rubbish  re- 
tained in  the  intestinal  canal.  Its  removal 
is  absolutely  essential  to  health,  and  pure 
water  is  the  natural  agent  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  purpose.  When  digestive  power 
reasserts  itself,  the  daily  use  of  the  enema 
may  be  discontinued,  but  it  should  without 
question  be  administered  at  least  twice 
weekly  in  health. 

The  factors  that  conduce  to  decomposition 
in  the  colon  are  several  in  number.  The 
organ  is  developed  as  a  storage  reservoir  for 
evacuations;  it  forms  a  suitable  culture 

193 


THE    ENEMA 


medium  well  supplied  with  warmth  and  mois- 
ture ;  and  there  are  microbes  constantly  pres- 
ent, capable  of  utilizing  toxic  substances,  and 
in  their  turn  producing  them.  Delay  in 
evacuation  gives  a  time  of  retention  sufficient 
for  further  microbic  propagation.  These 
conditions  exist  in  the  normal  colon,  and, 
when  frequent  action  is  impeded,  as  in  con- 
stipation, they  increase  to  the  highest  degree 
of  development. 

A  modern  scientist,  not  a  physician,  Elie 
Metchnikoff,  recently  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  extreme  longevity  in  mankind  is 
directly  dependent  upon  the  frequency  and 
copiousness  of  bowel  discharges.  This  view, 
taken  without  qualification,  may  be  regarded 
as  extravagant,  but  there  is  good  reason  for 
accepting  his  contention  that  the  primary 
cause  of  shortness  of  life  is  the  pernicious 
action  of  poisons  absorbed  from  the  colon. 

Following  the  medical  plan  of  annihilating 
the  symptom,  Metchnikoff  sought  and  sup- 
posedly found  that  constant  use  of  sour  milk 
placed  a  limit  on  intestinal  fermentation. 
The  active  principle  in  this  fluid  is  an  organ- 
ism known  as  the  bacillus  of  lactic  acid,  which 
Metchnikoff  discovered  to  be  antagonistic  to 
the  microbes  habitually  present  in  the  large 

129 


FASTING 


intestine.  He  dubbed  his  fighting  ally  a 
"friendly  germ."  Again  the  reverse  reason- 
ing of  medicine  is  apparent.  Why  not  take 
steps  for  the  prompt  removal  of  the  soil  in 
which  "unfriendly  germs"  propagate,  instead 
of  making  the  colon  a  battle-ground  of  which 
the  decomposing  dead  are  a  source  of  further 
septic  poisoning?  The  enema  solves  this 
problem,  and  a  clean  bowel,  whether  it  deter- 
mine long  life  in  itself  or  not,  at  least  con- 
duces to  health  and  to  length  of  days 

Since  the  colon  and  its  attachment,  the 
vermiform  appendix,  are  frequently  subject 
to  disease,  and  since  the  colon  itself  is  the 
principal  source  of  toxic  infection,  surgical 
fanatics  argue  that  these  are  unnecessary 
organs,  and  suggest  complete  removal.  Op- 
erations have  been  performed  in  which  the 
ileum  has  been  attached  directly  to  the  sig- 
moid  flexure,  and  the  entire  lower  bowel 
between  these  points  has  been  extirpated. 
Surely  this  is  one  way  of  eradicating  bowel 
trouble,  since  the  organ  vanishes,  but  it  may 
be  added  that  the  mortality  from  surgical 
shock  in  this  triumph  of  science  is  ninety -nine 
per  cent.  The  enema  will  long  hold  its  own 
in  comparison  with  methods  as  drastic  as  this. 


ISO 


"When  thou  sittest  to  eat  with  a  ruler,  consider 
diligently  what  is  before  thee: 

"And  put  a  knife  to  thy  throat,  if  thou  be  a  man 
given  to  appetite." 

Proverbs  XXIII:  1-2. 


131 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FOOD  AND  DISEASE 

IN  the  life  of  man  tradition,  inheritance, 
and  education  often  combine  to  foster 
and  preserve  doctrines  that  are  mislead- 
ing. And  in  no  manner  is  this  so  well  illus- 
trated as  in  the  orthodox  methods  employed 
for  the  relief  of  bodily  ills.  By  the  popular 
mind  disease  is  contemplated  with  dread,  and, 
when  certain  symptoms  are  in  evidence,  it  is 
fled  from  in  panic  and  in  terror.  This  atti- 
tude is  to  be  expected  so  long  as  present  con- 
ditions prevail,  but  the  prophecy  is  ventured 
that  the  day  is  at  hand  when  human  ailments 
will  be  regarded,  as  in  truth  they  are,  but 
rational,  natural  processes  of  cure.  To  the 
general  awakening  in  respect  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  public  and  individual  health,  apparent 
within  the  past  two  decades,  is  due  this 
reasonable  view  of  a  most  important  ques- 
tion. 

Disease  is  not  a  foe  to  life,  but  is  the 
plan  of  nature  instituted  to  restore  a  system 
temporarily  unbalanced  to  equilibrium  or 

133 


FASTING 


health.  That  the  general  conception  and 
treatment  of  disease  are  wrong,  and  that 
health  lies  within  reach  of  all  diseased  bodies 
that  are  not  organically  imperfect  are  truths 
which,  it  is  hoped,  the  text  will  fully  demon- 
strate. 

A  healthy  human  organism  is  one  in  posi- 
tion to  liberate  energy  and  vitality  as  these 
forces  are  needed  in  the  acts  that  constitute 
life.  To  preserve  the  body  in  health,  man 
breathes,  sleeps,  and  eats.  These  are  natural 
laws,  and,  if  any  one  of  them  is  violated, 
functional  disturbances  occur  that  must  re- 
sult in  disease. 

Centuries  of  catering  to  the  sensory  or- 
gans lie  behind  modern  carelessness  in  feed- 
ing the  human  body,  and  custom  has  caused 
false  standards  to  be  erected  about  the  appe- 
tite of  man.  Food  in  its  preparation  has  long 
been  subordinated  to  the  sense  of  taste,  and, 
ingested  in  excess  of  the  amount  required  to 
make  good  the  losses  incurred  through  physi- 
cal and  mental  activity,  has  entailed  much  un- 
necessary labor  upon  the  processes  of  diges- 
tion and  disposal  of  waste.  Because  of  almost 
universal  violation  of  the  natural  law  of  nu- 
trition in  respect  to  overeating,  this  vice,  ap- 

134 


FOOD    AND    DISEASE 

parent  though  it  be,  and  weakening  and  dis- 
tressing in  its  effects  as  it  is,  calls  for  cor- 
rection as  does  no  other  in  the  long  list  of 
offenses  against  nature.  From  time  to  time 
many  earnest  seekers  have  advanced  beliefs 
and  theories  tending  to  develop  a  panacea  for 
disease,  but  so  far  without  success.  That  re- 
lief is  to  be  found  is  not  only  probable  but 
certain,  since  nature  deals  but  in  cause  and 
effect,  and  the  tendency  in  all  life  is  towards 
perfect  bodily  balance,  without  which  health 
is  not.  One  thing,  however,  is  clearly  shown 
in  the  results  of  the  investigations  thus  far 
conducted: — The  human  race  possesses  the 
possibility  of  reaching  a  point  where  nutri- 
tion and  elimination  shall  become  functions 
automatically  performed. 

The  action  of  food  within  the  body  em- 
bodies a  process  more  or  less  mechanical.  Its 
function  consists  in  replacing  cell  structure 
the  usefulness  of  which  is  exhausted,  a  func- 
tion that  supplies  and  repairs  the  working 
parts  of  the  human  machine.  In  this  process 
energy  is  liberated,  utilized,  and  dissipated, 
and,  in  so  far  as  the  expenditure  of  what  may 
be  called  nervous  force  is  compensated,  a 
balance  is  maintained.  To  accomplish  its 
work,  food  must  be  prepared  for  conversion 

135 


FASTING 

into  living  tissue,  and  the  details  of  this 
change  are  sufficiently  familiar  to  preclude 
description  here.  However,  the  act  of  diges- 
tion is  an  effort  at  once  nervous  and  mus- 
cular, which  will  be  followed  by  troubles  in- 
numerable if  continued  beyond  the  real  need 
of  the  system;  for,  when  the  body  is  over- 
loaded with  sustenance,  energy  that  might 
well  be  utilized  for  other  important  purposes 
is  employed  in  the  disposal  of  that  in  excess 
of  what  is  needed  for  the  repair  of  used  tis- 
sue. Surplus  is  thus  accumulated  in  circula- 
tion, in  tissue,  and  in  the  organs  of  elimina- 
tion; and  of  this  the  portion  which  the  liver 
is  able  to  separate  and  cast  out,  together  with 
undigested  matter  in  the  intestinal  tract,  de- 
composes and  is  absorbed  to  be  re-deposited 
with  detrimental  effect.  The  natural  avenues 
of  energic  force  are,  as  a  consequence,  clog- 
ged, imperfect  functioning  occurs,  and  dis- 
ease results. 

Normally  only  that  portion  of  digested 
food  that  is  assimilated  can  be  used  by  the 
blood  for  the  repair  of  cell  structure;  the  re- 
mainder is  refuse,  and,  in  cases  of  overfeed- 
ing, it  takes  its  place,  as  described,  with  un- 
digested material  to  ferment  and  decompose 
in  the  intestinal  tract.  Absorption  of  toxins 

130 


FOOD    AND    DISEASE 

thus  formed  occurs  rapidly  and  continuously, 
as  is  shown  by  the  symptoms  that  follow. 

An  examination  of  human  fecal  discharges 
in  the  average  case  reveals  conditions  that  are 
conclusive.  Undigested  food  is  found,  di- 
gested food  products  and  old  f eces  are  pres- 
ent, and,  dependent  upon  diet  and  mastica- 
tion, the  odor  is  more  or  less  offensive.  Nor- 
mal refuse  from  properly  masticated  and 
chemically  changed  food  is  not  disagreeable 
in  odor.  When  daily  examination  is  con- 
tinued for  a  time,  assurance  is  gained  that 
food  is  not  all  digested;  that  the  bowels  are 
not  completely  cleared  of  waste  by  a  regular 
daily  movement;  that  fermenting,  rotting 
matter  defiles  the  human  interior  to  an  extent 
scarcely  to  be  accepted  as  a  fact ;  and  that,  in 
consequence  of  over-supply,  unnecessary  tax 
is  put  upon  the  digestive  tract  and  upon  the 
organs  of  elimination.  The  results  are  ap- 
parent in  a  waste  of  energy  that  lowers  vi- 
tality and  diminishes  the  power  of  assimila- 
tion— a  double  injury. 

A  movement  of  the  bowels  each  day  is  no 
proof  of  a  clean  and  healthy  alimentary 
canal.  Sufferers  from  digestive  troubles 
often  assume  that,  because  the  bowels  are 
regular  in  action,  the  evacuations  are  corn- 
is? 


FASTING 

plete  and  sufficient,  forgetful  of  the  fact 
that,  in  most  instances,  but  the  rectum  alone 
is  relieved  of  its  contents.  Additional  evi- 
dence of  a  filthy  internal  condition  is  fur- 
nished upon  the  administration  of  the  enema, 
when  quantities  of  old,  hardened  fecal  matter 
appear.  And  post  mortem  dissection  of  the 
colon  gives  further  proof  of  foulness,  for 
masses  of  waste  are  discovered  clinging  to  its 
walls,  material  beyond  the  power  of  the  or- 
gan to  eliminate,  the  direct  result  of  over- 
feeding. A  movement  of  the  bowels  in  these 
circumstances  takes  place  only  through  the 
center  of  the  clogged  tube.  These  facts  are 
developed  in  the  majority  of  cases,  and  but 
one  inference  can  be  made — food  waste  rot- 
ting in  human  intestines  forms  soil  analogous 
to  that  of  filth  decomposing  in  outer  air,  with 
the  result  that  the  destroying  agents  of  na- 
ture, bacilli,  are  at  once  introduced  fully 
equipped  as  scavengers. 

The  germ  evolves  and  propagates,  not  to 
create  disease,  but  to  remove  its  cause ;  not  on 
account  of  the  ill-health  of  the  body,  but  for 
the  sole  reason  that  ignorant  and  improper 
handling  of  the  resources  of  nature  furnishes 
conditions  that  stimulate  and  conserve  germ 
life.  The  remedy  lies,  not  in  making  the  body 

138 


a  battle-ground  for  myriad  antagonistic 
hordes  of  minute  organisms,  but  in  expedi- 
tiously  removing  the  putrid  field  in  which 
alone  these  really  invaluable  servants  of  na- 
ture can  exist. 

Despite  prevalent  belief,  disease  never 
strikes  suddenly,  but  is  the  consequence  of 
long-continued  violations  of  natural  law.  It 
is  the  result  of  a  gradual  clogging  of  the  ave- 
nues of  vitality  with  dead  material,  a  long- 
drawn  process  of  stifling  the  forces  of  life. 
"Every  disease,"  says  Dr.  E.  H.  Dewey,  "is 
an  inherited  possibility,  which  every  violation 
of  the  laws  of  life  tends  to  develop.  It  is 
never  simply  an  attack  on  a  well  person,  but 
rather  a  summing-up  of  the  more  or  less  life- 
long violations  of  health  laws."  As  a  result 
of  these  transgressions,  loss  of  digestive 
power  occurs;  disease  symptoms  become  ap- 
parent on  lines  of  least  resistance;  and  the 
physical  scales  no  longer  balance.  The  de- 
composition of  every  morsel  of  food  that 
enters  a  human  stomach  in  excess  of  the  need 
for  repair  of  broken-down  tissue  and  growth 
is  always  the  direct  cause  of  morbid  condi- 
tions. Defining  disease  as  here  outlined,  it 
may  be  succinctly  stated  that  it  is  the  result 
of  the  products  of  the  decomposition  of  sur- 

139 


FASTING 


plus  food  held  within  the  body — food  be- 
yond the  need  of  the  system  for  the  repair 
of  broken-down  tissue. 

Symptoms  of  disease,  the  outward  and  in- 
ward evidences  of  its  presence,  vary  with 
temperament,  hereditary  tendencies,  sur- 
roundings, and  the  physical  condition  of  the 
individual.  No  two  human  beings  ever  ex- 
press identical  morbid  signs,  even  in  like  en- 
vironment ;  and  the  reason  underlying  the  de- 
velopment of  disease  symptoms,  perhaps 
diametrically  opposed,  in  persons  similarly 
situated,  is  to  be  sought  in  the  domain  of  the 
phenomena  of  heredity. 

Food  prepared  in  the  successive  stages  of 
digestion  for  conversion  into  tissue  nourish- 
ment is  eventually  transformed  into  chyle,  a 
milky  fluid  that  is  absorbed  from  the  intes- 
tines and  carried  through  liver,  heart,  and 
lungs  to  the  arterial  system.  Elements  other 
than  food  products  enter  into  the  cell  struc- 
ture, but  the  great  supply  of  material  for  re- 
building is  secured  from  food  ingested  and 
digested,  and  blood  quality  depends  in  large 
degree  upon  food  properly  converted  and 
perfectly  assimilated.  Any  disturbance  of 
any  part  of  the  processes  of  digestion  and  as- 
similation causes  an  imperfect  supply  of 

140 


FOOD    AND    DISEASE 

blood  and  hence  of  tissue  nourishment. 
When  such  disorder  occurs,  abnormal  func- 
tioning of  vital  organs  results,  the  blood  be- 
comes encumbered  with  impurities,  and  na- 
ture at  once  makes  effort  to  restore  normal 
balance  by  manifesting  disease. 

A  review  of  the  physiology  of  the  passage 
of  the  blood  through  the  body  evidences  that 
health  is  synonymous  with  perfect  blood 
quality  and  circulation.  What  is  deposited  in 
one  state  is  removed  in  another;  and,  given 
a  pure  blood  supply  properly  delivered, 
broken-down  tissue  is  at  once  eliminated  and 
replaced.  The  products  of  converted  food 
are  furnished  to  the  tissue  by  the  blood,  and 
this  fluid  gathers  and  carries  away  the  refuse. 
Upon  the  normal  performance  of  this  pro- 
cess depends  the  maintenance  of  the  animal 
body. 

With  these  premises  it  should  not  now  re- 
quire an  exhaustive  argument  to  establish  the 
fact  that  disease  has  its  origin  in  digestion 
abused  and  impaired.  The  treatment  herein 
described  rests  in  its  entirety  upon  the  exposi- 
tion of  this  fundamental  truth,  and  long  ex- 
perience at  various  cases  places  an  axiomatic 
value  upon  the  statement  that,  whatever  the 
symptom,  the  sole  cause  of  disease  is  found 

141 


FASTING 


in  impaired  digestion,  manifested  in  impure 
blood.  The  law  of  compensation  in  nature  is 
here  amply  and  completely  shown,  for  each 
and  every  violation  of  the  rule  of  obedience  is 
visited  with  condign  correction,  individual  or 
cumulative.  On  the  other  hand,  relief  and 
restoration  are  offered  when  the  road  of  in- 
dulgence is  forsaken  and  natural  paths  re- 
sumed. 

Granting  that  impaired  digestion  is  the 
source  of  impure  blood  or  disease,  it  is  the 
purpose  of  the  following  pages  to  establish 
that  abused  digestive  functions,  relieved 
from  their  labors  for  a  time,  will  recover  and 
return  with  renewed  vigor  to  their  appointed 
tasks.  Rest  and  rest  alone  is  the  one  means 
of  recuperation  in  the  realm  of  nature,  and 
the  sole  purpose  of  physical  life  is  so  to  main- 
tain the  structure  of  the  human  body  that 
disease  may  be  prevented  and  eradicated. 


142 


CHAPTER  X 


REST.  AND  ELIMINATION 


"A  man.  cannot  be  a  perfect  physician  of  any  one 
save  of  himself  alone/' 

Louis  Cornaro. 


143 


CHAPTER  X. 

REST  AND  ELIMINATION 

BODY  tissue  is  continuously  undergoing 
change  of  structure.  The  cells  that 
form  it  are  constantly  dying,  are  cast 
off,  and  fresh  material  is  supplied.  The 
waste  eliminated  is  poison ;  and,  without  mus- 
cular rest,  this  dead  and  harmful  refuse  can- 
not be  replaced  with  sufficient  rapidity  by 
new  products.  This  applies  not  only  to  mus- 
cles in  active  use,  but  to  all  of  the  bodily 
fabric.  Rapid  exercise  of  any  part  of  the 
human  machine  can  be  continued  but  for  a 
short  time,  for,  because  of  vigorous  muscular 
action,  voluntary  or  involuntary,  poisonous 
substances  are  thrown  into  the  blood  and  are 
carried  to  tissue,  nerves,  and  brain.  Through 
the  nerve  cells  the  heart  is  affected,  and  the 
muscles  of  respiration  are  to  a  similar  extent 
disturbed,  and  resulting  symptoms  of  self- 
toxication  appear  that  may  end  in  death. 
The  only  means  of  restoration  lies  in  abso- 
lute muscular  rest. 

146 


FASTING 


The  heart,  though  making  contractions  at 
the  rate  of  seventy-two  beats  a  minute,  is  able 
to  continue  its  work  throughout  the  life  of  an 
individual,  since  each  contraction  of  this  mus- 
cle is  followed  by  an  interval  of  rest,  during 
which  the  cells  recuperate.  Stimulate  the 
heart  beats  beyond  the  normal  rate,  and  a 
point  is  soon  reached  at  which  poisonous 
products  are  not  replaced  by  fresh  cells,  since 
the  intervals  of  rest  are  insufficient.  Similar 
conditions  are  met  in  the  action  of  the  dia- 
phragm and  of  the  chest  and  abdominal  mus- 
cles used  in  respiration. 

Just  here  a  distinction  in  function  needs 
notation : — 

The  muscles  that  move  involuntarily,  those 
that  are  not  subject  to  the  human  will,  never 
know  absolute  rest,  for  they  continue  their 
labors  whether  the  body  be  asleep  or  awake. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  muscles,  the  ac- 
tion of  which  depends  upon  the  direction  of 
the  human  will,  cannot  work  continuously, 
lest  fatigue  with  fatal  exhaustion  follow. 

Seemingly,  automatic  labor,  labor  not  di- 
rected by  the  highest  function  of  conscious- 
ness, does  not  wear.  It  is  only  conscious  work 
that  requires  for  recuperation  and  muscle-re- 
building other  means  than  simple  non-use  or 

146 


REST  AND  ELIMINATION 

physical  rest.  This  is  granted  in  that  loss  of 
consciousness,  regularly  recurrent  in  animal 
life,  which  is  called  sleep. 

All  during  life  each  component  part  of 
the  body  in  the  very  act  of  living  produces 
poison  within  itself.  When  toxins  accumu- 
late faster  than  they  are  eliminated,  as  occurs 
when  no  interval  of  rest  is  granted,  fatigue 
is  felt,  and  fatigue  is  only  another  name  for 
toxic  infection.  A  normal  amount  of  labor  is 
easily  cared  for  by  the  muscular  system,  but 
excess  work  brings  disaster.  If  action  and 
rest  are  so  regulated  that  the  cells  may  give 
off  their  waste  products  at  a  rate  to  keep  pace 
with  new  formations,  muscle,  and  nerve  tis- 
sue as  well,  will  always  be  in  position  to  liber- 
ate energy  on  demand. 

From  the  time  of  birth  until  death,  the  or- 
gans of  the  human  body  function  continu- 
ously. On  the  other  hand,  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom  the  plant  maintains  and  conserves 
life  by  added  growth  from  year  to  year.  The 
vital  parts  of  the  plant  are  re-created  and 
their  predecessors  become  mere  physical  sup- 
ports corresponding  to  the  bony  framework 
in  man.  The  power  resident  in  the  tree  of 
producing  new  equipment  annually  is  denied 
to  humanity,  not  by  nature,  but  because  of 

147 


FASTING 


imperfect  interpretation  of  natural  law. 
Physical  growth  and  muscular  development 
in  man  are  never  completely  rounded  out, 
and  this  may  be  attributed  to  a  double  cause. 
Theoretically,  every  muscle  of  the  body 
should  be  exercised  impartially  and  be 
nourished  with  just  the  quantity  of  cell  pabu- 
lum that  is  necessary  for  the  replacement  of 
its  waste.  This  never  occurs ;  but  it  is  a  possi- 
bility that  may  be  contemplated  with  surety 
since  it  is  a  natural  condition.  To  bring  it  to 
pass,  reciprocal  action  must  exist  between 
intake  and  outgo,  rebuilding  and  waste,  labor 
and  rest,  consciousness  and  sleep. 

The  processes  of  nutrition  are  involuntary 
in  character  so  long  as  material  is  supplied 
for  their  use,  but  they  may  be  directed  by  the 
individual  to  the  extent  of  the  selection  and 
preparation  of  nourishment.  In  this  they 
differ  from  the  functions  of  the  involuntary 
muscles  and  organs  of  the  body,  the  control 
of  which  is  entirely  beyond  that  of  the  human 
will.  When  through  abuse  the  digestive 
function  becomes  impaired,  disease  results. 
Functional  disease  is  then  analogous  to  mus- 
cular fatigue,  and,  since  nature  knows  but 
one  law  of  recuperation — that  of  rest — it  is 
reasonable  to  assume  what  the  text  promul- 

146 


REST  AND   ELIMINATION 

gates: — Rest  through  abeyance  of  the  pro- 
cesses of  digestion  offers  the  possibility  of 
complete  renewal  of  functional  machinery. 

The  manner  in  which  the  digestive  organs 
may  be  given  needed  rest  is  perhaps  not  at 
once  apparent.  The  mere  thought  of  absten- 
tion from  food  carries  with  it  violation  of 
long-taught  doctrine  that  frequent  feeding 
in  sickness  and  in  health  is  necessary  for  the 
maintenance  of  vitality  and  strength.  Yet 
just  this  omission  of  food  is  meant  when  rest 
through  abeyance  of  the  digestive  function 
is  suggested.  The  phenomena  of  fasting  for 
the  cure  of  disease  include  facts  that  prove 
that  the  human  body  does  not  depend  for 
strength  or  for  vitality  upon  ingested  food; 
the  latter  is  utilized  for  the  repair  of  the 
body  as  the  vehicle  of  the  expression  of  these 
forces,  and  by  it  the  material  framework  is 
kept  in  condition  to  liberate  the  life  principle 
in  its  variety  of  manifestation. 

In  illness  weight  is  always  lost,  and,  con- 
tingent upon  the  duration  or  the  severity 
of  disease,  the  substance  of  the  body  dim- 
inishes in  greater  or  in  less  degree.  Dur- 
ing sickness,  under  prevailing  methods,  feed- 
ing is  continuous,  and,  if  the  stomach  rebel, 
nutrient  enemata  are  pressed  into  service. 

149 


FASTING 


The  question  suggests  itself,  why,  if  food  is 
constantly  supplied,  naturally  or  otherwise, 
does  the  body  lose  in  weight?  The  answer  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  intake  is  not  di- 
gested, consequently  is  not  assimilated,  and, 
far  from  nourishing  the  tissues,  is  an  added 
burden  to  functions  already  overtaxed.  An- 
other cause  is  discovered  in  that  brain  and 
nerve  tissue,  as  instruments  for  the  expres- 
sion of  thought  and  sensation,  are  protected 
from  deterioration  in  substance,  even  in 
disease,  by  a  provision  of  nature  that  permits 
them  to  utilize  nourishment  stored  in  the  in- 
terstices of  body  tissue.  This  they  consume  in 
illness  and  in  health,  and,  when  in  disease  a 
normal  balance  is  not  preserved,  when  cells 
are  not  rebuilt  as  waste  occurs,  they  still  are 
supported  from  this  source. 

With  slight  differences  the  physiology  of 
digestion  in  all  mammals  is  markedly  similar. 
When  disease  is  manifest,  the  lower  animals 
and  the  reptiles  abstain  from  food  until 
health  is  restored.  They  are  compelled  to  this 
by  instinct,  a  force  implanted  by  nature  in 
the  whole  of  animate  creation.  The  fasting 
which  animals  instinctively  undergo  is  a  fact 
that  is  constantly  observed,  but  not  in  general 
mtelligently  perceived.  A  common  expres- 

140 


REST  AND  ELIMINATION 

sion  of  the  stable  in  reference  to  the  ailments 
of  the  horse  embodies  the  phrase,  "off  his 
feed,"  and  this  alone  illustrates  the  instinct 
that  impels  the  animal  to  fast  when  its  physi- 
cal well-being  is  disturbed.  A  python  in 
captivity  has  been  known  to  abstain  from 
food  for  thirteen  months  with  no  deleterious 
effects  beyond  a  loss  in  weight;  and  cats 
often  prolong  abstention  to  skeleton  condi- 
tion, when  they  rapidly  return  to  health  with 
strength  and  vigor  increased.  Instances  such 
as  these  may  be  multiplied  indefinitely. 

Omitting  the  mental  states  of  fear  and 
worry,  which  of  necessity  react  upon  the 
physical  body,  and  bodily  conditions  of  se- 
vere pain  or  of  continued  exposure,  the  aver- 
age human  being  cannot  die  from  want  of 
food  for  several  months.  This  fact  has  been 
substantiated  in  many  instances  in  medical 
history,  and  it  is  verified  and  corroborated 
daily  in  fasting  for  the  cure  of  disease. 

If,  then,  the  body  can  exist  without  food 
for  a  time,  and,  if  in  illness  the  stomach  in- 
stinctively objects  to  its  introduction,  it  is 
reasonable  to  infer  that  food  not  desired  is 
not  necessary,  and,  once  accepted,  this  infer- 
ence is  abundantly  justified.  The  results  of 
its  practical  application  are  such  that  they 

151 


FASTING 


lead  to  the  conclusion  that,  in  the  absence  of 
mechanical  defects  in  physical  organs,  ab- 
stinence from  food,  with  other  natural  health- 
giving  and  health-preserving  accompani- 
ments, is  the  unfailing  remedy  for  the  cure 
of  functional  ills. 


162 


CHAPTER  XI 


AUXILIARIES  IN  FASTING 


"The  heart  receiveth  benefit  or  harm  mott  from  the 
air  which  we  breathe. 

"Washing  the  body  in  water  is  good  for  length  of 
life. 

"Sleep  doth  supply  somewhat  to  nourishment,  and 
conferreth  to  length  of  days. 

"No  body  can  be  healthy  without  exercise,  neither 
natural  body  nor  politic." 

Lord  Bacon. 


CHAPTER  XI 

AUXILIARIES  IN  FASTING 

BREATHING.— Nature  has  provided 
in  the  air  that  surrounds  the  earth  a 
plentiful  supply  of  oxygen,  a  gas  that 
is  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  human  life. 
Its  function  lies  in  replacing  carbonic  acid,  a 
poisonous  gas  developed  within  the  body  by 
the  breaking  down  of  tissue,  and  delivered  to 
the  lungs  in  venous  blood.  In  the  process  of 
breathing,  oxygen  is  inhaled  and  appropri- 
ated, while  carbonic  acid  is  expelled.  The  act 
of  respiration  exposes  the  blood  to  the  air, 
and  by  mutual  diffusion  the  two  operations 
of  oxygenating  the  blood  and  freeing  it  from 
carbonic  acid  are  accomplished  at  one  and  the 
same  time.  The  muscular  movements  of 
respiration  are  not  dependent  upon  the  will, 
as  the  same  process  goes  on  in  sleep  and  in 
other  unconscious  states.  The  number  of 
respiratory  movements  in  health  varies  from 
fourteen  to  eighteen  per  minute,  and  besides 
carbonic  acid,  watery  vapor  and  a  small 

155 


FASTING 

quantity  of  organic  matter  are  exhaled,  the 
latter  dependent  upon  the  condition  of  the  di- 
gestive apparatus. 

In  order  to  supply  oxygen  to  the  system, 
from  300  to  400  cubic  feet  of  air  are  drawn 
into  the  lungs  in  twenty-four  hours.  Each 
hour  an  adult  inhales  about  500  grains  of 
oxygen  and  emits  about  600  grains  of  car- 
bonic acid  with  a  much  larger  amount  of 
watery  vapor.  Deprived  of  air  the  body  per- 
ishes from  asphyxiation. 

It  follows  that  not  only  is  a  continued  sup- 
ply of  fresh  air  essential  to  life,  but  that 
constant  care  is  necessary  to  insure  its  purity 
at  the  moment  of  delivery.  The  natural 
channels  for  the  passage  of  air  to  the  lungs 
begin  at  the  nostrils,  which  are  furnished 
with  short  fine  hairs  and  with  mucus  secre- 
tion, mechanical  preventives  of  the  inhalation 
of  dust  and  light  material.  If  obstruction  of 
the  nasal  tract  occurs,  it  is  possible  for 
breathing  to  take  place  through  the  mouth, 
but  so  harmful  is  the  latter  method  to  general 
health  that  attention  is  here  directed  to  its 
results. 

Overfeeding  a  child  invariably  develops  a 
cold  with  accompanying  nasal  discharge  and 
consequent  obstruction  of  the  natural  air  pas- 

156 


AUXILIARIES      IN      FASTING 

sages.  A  prolonged  cold  or  a  series  of  colds 
compel  the  use  of  the  mouth  for  the  act  of 
breathing,  a  method  that,  if  not  corrected, 
eventually  becomes  habitual.  Constant  irri- 
tation and  inflammation  of  the  mucus  mem- 
brane of  the  nostrils  and  of  the  vault  of  the 
pharynx  cause  the  much  discussed  adenoid 
growths  to  form,  and  obstruction  of  the  air 
canal  is  thereafter  permanent  until  removal 
of  the  obstacles  is  accomplished  either  by  the 
fast  or  by  surgical  means.  Children  thus 
affected  are  stupid  and  sluggish  and  exhibit 
a  characteristic  facial  expression  approach- 
ing that  of  imbecility.  In  fact,  when  the 
habit  of  mouth  breathing  has  been  contracted 
in  infancy  or  in  adult  life,  even  when  no  ob- 
struction of  the  naso-pharyngeal  vault  exists, 
not  only  do  the  nasal  passages,  through  the 
lack  of  exercise,  fail  of  normal  development, 
but  the  open  mouth  and  dulled  eyes  denote  a 
serious  deficiency  in  intellectual  advance  and 
capability. 

We  cannot  know  the  exact  source  whence 
is  received  the  influx  of  vitality  and  energy, 
the  expression  of  which  is  life,  nor  in  what 
manner  these  forces  penetrate  the  physical 
body  and  animate  its  movements  and  its 
thought,  but  whatever  is  gained  of  vital 

157 


FASTING 

power  from  without — and  life  is  very  evi- 
dently neither  residual  nor  developed  within 
the  body — must  reach  us  from  the  domain  of 
the  surrounding  atmosphere,  either  through 
air  itself  or  through  its  penetrating  medium, 
ether.  Its  transference  to  the  brain  directly 
through  the  bony  structure  immediately 
above  and  back  of  the  nasal  passages  is  con- 
ceivable; and,  while  the  purity  of  the  atmos- 
pheric constituents  that  furnish  the  lungs 
with  blood-restoring  activity  may  well  be 
vitiated  in  transmission  by  paths  not  natu- 
rally intended,  the  lack  of  intellectuality  dis- 
played in  all  mouth  breathers  cannot  be 
accounted  for  on  this  basis,  since  no  deprecia- 
tion in  blood  value  is  apparent.  Hence  the 
theory  here  presented: — that  vital  force 
enters  the  body  from  without,  through  the 
natural  air  passages  and  the  bony  cavities 
immediately  above  and  in  their  rear.  What- 
ever the  attitude  of  the  reader  in  respect  to 
this,  there  can  be  no  question  of  the  import- 
ance to  be  attached  to  the  formation  of  a 
nasal  breathing  habit — hygienic,  because  it 
is  natural;  healthful,  because  it  is  correct. 

In  the  fast  proper  respiratory  methods 
must  be  pursued,  and  deep  breathing  prac- 
ticed. Every  portion  of  the  lung  surface 

158 


AUXILIARIES      IN      FASTING 

should  be  exposed  to  the  general  purification 
resultant  from  oxygenation  of  the  blood,  and 
an  insure  this,  in  addition  to  lung  exercise, 
the  body  should  be  in  contact  with  outer  air 
day  and  night.  Well  ventilated  living  and 
sleeping  rooms  are  important  to  the  highest 
degree  in  illness,  in  fasting,  and  in  health. 

BATHING. — The  skin  or  covering  of  the 
human  body  consists  of  an  outer  layer  called 
the  cuticle,  and  of  an  inner  one,  the  corium. 
These  constitute  the  true  skin,  but  under 
them  lies  a  third  layer  of  cellular  tissue, 
which  is  considered  also  as  part  of  the  skin, 
when  that  word  is  used  in  its  most  compre- 
hensive sense.  In  man  the  skin  is  covered 
more  or  less  with  scattered  hairs,  profuse  in 
some  parts  and  scanty  in  others.  The  office 
of  the  skin  is  one  of  protection  to  the  organs 
beneath,  and  it  is  also  a  vast  excretory  sys- 
tem, sending  out  quantities  of  perspiration 
through  the  sudoriferous  glands  located  in 
its  texture.  Each  of  these  glands  consists  of 
a  long  fine  tube  coiled  into  a  knot  near  its 
closed  end,  which  is  situated  in  the  cutaneous 
cellular  tissue,  and  constitutes  the  gland 
proper,  and  of  a  straight  or  spinal  duct  tra- 
versing the  outer  layers  and  ending  in  a  sur- 
face opening  called  a  pore.  Nearly  3,000  of 

159 


the  latter  are  found  upon  a  square  inch  of  the 
palm  of  the  hand,  and  at  least  500  on  an  equal 
space  upon  other  parts  of  the  body. 

Perspiration  is  the  watery  matter 
"breathed  out"  from  the  system  through  the 
pores  described.  It  is  more  copious  than  the 
exudation  from  the  lungs  by  respiration,  but 
the  quantity  discharged  varies  greatly,  and  is 
affected  by  the  heat  or  the  dryness  of  the  at- 
mosphere, by  liquids  drunk,  by  exercise,  and 
by  the  relative  activity  of  the  kidneys.  Sensi- 
ble perspiration  is  that  which  is  perceptible  in 
the  form  of  small  drops,  but  by  far  the  larger 
portion  exuded  is  of  the  insensible  or  non- 
visible  kind.  Solid  matter  is  carried  to  the 
surface  of  the  skin  in  the  sweat,  and  authori- 
ties all  agree  that  a  considerable  proportion 
of  the  total  waste  of  the  body  is  evacuated  in 
this  manner.  Hence,  besides  keeping  the 
skin  in  a  healthy,  moist  condition,  and  acting 
through  evaporation  as  a  refrigerator  regu- 
lating body  temperature,  perspiration  takes 
its  share  in  the  elimination  of  useless  material. 

Close  sympathy  exists  between  the  skin 
and  the  lungs,  the  kidneys,  the  liver,  and  the 
bowels,  and  this  is  evidenced  in  the  fact  that, 
when  one  or  other  of  these  organs  becomes 
affected  by  disease,  the  perspiratory  function 

160 


is  sympathetically  deranged  and  vice  versa. 
This  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  the 
effect  is  produced  by  physical  transference 
of  suppressed  exhalation  to  the  internal  or- 
gan nor  the  reverse;  the  chief  impression 
seems  to  be  made  upon  the  nervous  system. 
But  the  importance  of  the  relation  existing 
between  the  skin  and  the  other  excretory  or- 
gans is  such  that  it  cannot  be  disregarded 
when  disease  is  to  be  remedied. 

In  order  to  insure  functional  activity  of 
the  surface  of  the  body,  frequent  bathing  is 
necessary  at  all  times.  For  this  purpose  one 
cleansing  bath  daily  is  required.  Dead, 
scaly  particles  of  skin,  dirt,  and  the  products 
of  perspiration  are  thus  removed,  and  the 
other  organs  of  elimination  are  relieved  from 
the  performance  of  extra  labor.  The  rule 
of  the  body  is  that  of  cleanliness,  internal 
and  external.  The  importance  of  the  daily 
cleansing  bath  during  a  fast  period  needs  no 
further  exposition. 

A  bath  with  temperature  ranging  from 
80  to  90  degrees  Fahrenheit  is  suitable  for 
elderly  people  and  for  those  who  do  not  nerv- 
ously react  with  promptness  from  either  heat 
or  cold.  One  of  temperature  not  more  than 
105  degrees  is  cleansing  in  the  highest  sense 

161 


FASTING 

if  soap  be  freely  used  and  the  flesh-brush 
vigorously  plied.  The  cold  bath  of  register 
lower  than  75  degrees  should  never  be  em- 
ployed except  in  health  and  for  tonic  pur- 
poses. It  has  a  powerful  stimulating  action 
on  the  circulation  and  nervous  system,  in  ad- 
dition to  but  slight  cleansing  properties.  It 
cannot  be  used  during  the  fast. 

Bathing  should  never  be  undertaken  im- 
mediately before  or  directly  after  eating,  and 
an  interval  of  at  least  two  hours  should 
elapse  between.  During  the  menstrual  flow 
in  woman,  medical  authority  to  the  contrary, 
a  warm  sitz  or  full  body  bath,  with  a  warm 
vaginal  douche  are  imperative  for  clean- 
liness and  for  relief  and  ease  in  function. 

Caution  is  directed  in  connection  with  all 
bathing  toward  continuing  the  bath  to  undue 
length.  Only  time  sufficient  to  cleanse  the 
body  or  to  receive  a  tonic  effect  should  be 
occupied;  more  than  this  is  weakening. 
When,  in  the  fast,  chilliness  occurs,  a  few 
minutes  in  the  hot  bath  equalizes  the  circula- 
tion and  remedies  the  condition,  care  being 
taken  to  guard  against  exposure  at  its  con- 
clusion. 

Civilization  and  the  customs  it  entails  are 
responsible  for  many  physiological  evils. 

162 


AUXILIARIES      IN      FASTING 

The  two  great  mediums  through  which 
energy  is  delivered  to  the  human  body,  pure 
air  and  sunshine,  are  in  large  part  denied  im- 
mediate contact  with  its  surface.  Clothing 
prevents  full  elimination  of  perspiration  and 
its  products,  which  remain  to  be  partially  ab- 
sorbed or  to  clog  the  pores  of  the  skin.  This 
defect  can  be  remedied  to  a  degree  by  daily 
exposing  the  naked  body  to  the  outer  air  for 
as  long  a  time  as  can  be  spared  from  other 
duties.  The  air  bath  is  a  valuable  adjunct  to 
natural  treatment  for  the  prevention  and 
cure  of  disease,  and  of  equal  worth  is  the 
action  of  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  upon  the 
skin.  The  human  plant  absorbs  the  tonic 
properties  of  air  and  sunlight  with  the  eager- 
ness of  its  garden  counterpart,  and  these 
baths  add  their  quota  of  benefits  to  the  other 
hygienic  means  described.  In  the  fast  these 
two  baths  should  form  a  daily  habit. 

The  skin  is  the  natural  clothing  of  the 
body.  Its  protection  to  the  parts  beneath  is 
aided  by  deposits  of  fat,  a  non-conductor  of 
heat,  distributed  more  or  less  uniformly  over 
the  body.  When  overheated,  evaporation  of 
perspiration  cools ;  when  chilled,  closed  pores 
retain  the  body  warmth.  Like  the  lungs,  the 
skin  admits  of  blood  oxygenation  through 

163 


FASTING 


the  walls  of  the  capillaries,  and,  as  has  been 
shown,  it  is  an  organ  of  elimination  as  well. 
In  the  conservation  of  body  heat,  the  skin  is 
the  thermostat  of  the  organism.  It  preserves 
and  regulates  temperature,  and  acts  as  a  gov- 
ernor of  internal  mechanism.  If  its  function 
be  interfered  with  by  the  interposition  of  sub- 
stances between  it  and  outer  air,  evaporation 
cannot  take  place  freely,  and  elimination  of 
the  products  of  the  pores  is  impeded,  if  not 
entirely  arrested.  Temperature  is  main- 
tained in  this  instance  artificially  and  ab- 
normally, for  disease  of  function  causes  in- 
terior combustion  that  is  detrimental  to 
health.  Kindred  organs  are  called  upon  to 
do  the  work  of  body  covering,  and  danger 
lurks  in  forced  exertion.  A  chill  precedes  a 
fever;  the  pores  are  closed;  intense  heat  is 
generated;  the  fever  is  cured  when  perspira- 
tion with  subsequent  evaporation  is  restored. 
A  very  striking  exemplification  of  these  facts 
is  given  in  cases  of  cutaneous  burns  where 
large  areas  are  affected.  Respiration  is  in- 
creased to  exhaustion,  and  kidney  discharges 
are  highly  colored  with  waste  that  ordinarily 
is  eliminated  through  the  pores.  If  an  ex- 
treme proportion  of  skin  area  is  seared,  suf- 
focation ensues.  Also  fatal  results  ensuewhen 

164 


AUXILIARIES      IN     FASTING 

the  body  is  covered  with  a  substance  that  is 
impervious  to  air,  such  as  gold-leaf.  Here 
the  symptoms  are  those  that  accompany 
asphyxiation. 

Ages  of  submission  to  conventionality 
have  compelled  skin  covering,  and  have 
evolutionally  made  of  this  organ  a  partial 
functioner.  Since  clothing  is  an  essential  of 
civilization,  the  remedy  lies  in  making  it  as 
light  and  as  pervious  to  air  as  is  consistent 
with  decency,  and  in  caring  for  the  surface 
of  the  body  with  constancy  and  diligence. 

SLEEP. — Nature's  law  of  recuperation  is 
that  of  rest,  of  relief  from  labor.  The  instru- 
ment of  thought  and  of  motive  government, 
the  brain,  obtains  its  repose  in  regularly  re- 
curring periods  of  unconsciousness  and  ces- 
sation.of  bodily  activity — the  hours  of  sleep. 
It  is  then  that  the  cells  of  the  human  battery 
are  recharged,  that  the  working  principal 
receives  its  potential  for  transformation 
during  conscious  moments.  Sleep  is  a  physio- 
logical necessity  and  death  results  within  a 
few  days  if  it  be  denied.  In  the  fast,  due  to 
slight  brain  congestion  produced  by  excessive 
elimination  in  the  prior  stages,  inability  to 
slumber  is  sometimes  present,  but  attention 
to  the  bath  and  to  the  ventilation  of  the  sleep- 

165 


FASTING 


ing  apartment  brings  refreshing  rest  as  dis- 
ease departs.  No  garment  worn  during  the 
day  should  cover  the  body  in  sleep,  and  bed- 
clothing  should  be  regulated  to  an  accurate 
degree  of  protection,  neither  too  heavy  nor 
too  light. 

EXERCISE. — The  maintenance  of  every 
muscle  and  organ  of  the  body  in  propor- 
tionate development  is  regulated  by  its  work. 
Constant  use  of  a  particular  muscle  adds  to 
its  substance  at  the  expense  of  that  of  its 
neighbor,  hence  the  aim  of  all  exercise  should 
be  directed  at  equality  of  labor.  Trunk  and 
legs,  arms  and  neck,  all  should  receive  pro- 
portioned attention.  Muscular  development 
also  depends  upon  an  unimpeded  circulation 
of  blood  and  upon  healthful  cell-forming 
constituents  constantly  furnished  to  replace 
used  tissue.  Constriction  of  the  body  in  any 
part  prevents  free  circulation,  and  only  loose 
garments  permit  of  full  growth  and  proper 
development.  The  tight  collar,  the  garter, 
and  the  corset,  make  flabby  muscles  inevit- 
able, and  only  a  body  unrestrained  by  the 
bonds  of  conventional  dress  can  hope  for 
physical  perfection  in  form.  But  few  elderly 
women  of  the  present  day  can  exhibit  an 
abdomen  that  is  not  pendulous,  nor  breasts 

166 


AUXILIARIES      IN      FASTING 

that  do  not  sag;  and,  as  age  creeps  on,  thighs 
and  buttocks  droop  with  muscular  atrophy 
and  with  deposits  of  adipose  cells.  The  pos- 
sibilities of  natural  hygienic  living,  coupled 
with  judicious  exercise,  are  surely  worth  con- 
sideration, if  merely  for  the  satisfaction  of 
personal  appearance,  but  their  more  import- 
ant effects  upon  general  health  and  longevity 
make  neglect  of  these  desiderata  sinful  and 
criminal. 

During  a  fast  moderate  exercise  in  keep- 
ing with  the  daily  access  of  strength  is  ad- 
vised, and  after  its  completion  constant  com- 
prehensive muscular  activity  is  essential  to 
rebuilding  and  to  form-development. 

The  subject  matter  of  this  chapter,  then, 
resolves  itself  into  three  requisites,  equally 
divided  in  importance : 

Ventilation  of  the  body  within  and  with- 
out; 

Activity  for  its  members;  and 

Rest  for  their  recuperation. 

Of  similar  moment  are  these  hygienic 
measures  with  the  laws  of  maintenance  else- 
where enumerated. 


IflT 


CHAPTER  XII 


DIET 


'Know  prudent,  cautious  telj-control 
It  tvitdom'g  root." 


Robert  Burns. 


199 


CHAPTER  XII 

,     DIET 

DIET  at  any  time  is  largely  a  matter  of 
special  need,  but  it  would  seem  that, 
after  a  course  of  fasting,  the  success- 
ful issue  of  which  depends  upon  a  reduction 
to  normal  in  all  respects,  certain  fixed  rules 
might  be  laid  down  to  apply  to  all  cases. 
Peculiar  limitations  are  developed  in  each 
individual,  for  which  the  physical  sins  of 
generations  of  ancestors  are  in  great  measure 
responsible;  hence  empirical  methods  must 
be  employed  in  the  selection  of  foods  requi- 
site for  the  case  in  hand. 

Taste  plays  an  important  part  in  the  choice 
of  food  material  in  health,  and  it  is  popularly 
believed  that,  when  an  article  of  sustenance 
is  not  repugnant  to  this  sense,  it  is  healthful 
and  wholesome,  and  that  harm  cannot  result 
from  its  ingestion.  One  of  the  objects  that 
nature  has  in  placing  the  nerves  of  taste  in 
the  mouth  is  to  prevent  noxious  substances 
from  entering  the  stomach;  but,  as  a  conse- 

171 


FASTING 

quence  of  persistent  cultivation,  the  sense  of 
taste  has  been  much  perverted,  and  most  men 
and  women  are  more  or  less  abnormal  in 
taste  perception.  To  the  lack  of  sense  per- 
ception in  this  respect  is  due  much  of  care- 
lessness in  mastication.  Improperly  accom- 
plished salivation  and  the  seeds  of  disease  are 
resulting  evils.  With  normal  taste  the  medi- 
cal profession  would  be  at  loss  to  administer 
the  average  drug  were  the  patient  to  masti- 
cate or  insalivate  its  substance.  Recognizing 
this  fact  as  well  as  the  subsequent  action  of 
the  digestive  juices  upon  medical  remedies, 
the  physician  obviates  the  difficulty  pre- 
sented by  the  use  of  capsules  or  by  introduc- 
ing the  drug  directly  into  the  blood. 

The  sense  of  smell,  reaching  out  beyond 
the  body  ere  food  material  passes  the  lips, 
assists  in  its  selection,  and  it  and  taste,  when 
normal  in  function  and  not  vitiated  by  culti- 
vation and  habit,  form  a  perfect  picket-line 
of  protection  against  the  introdution  of  un- 
wholesome nourishment  into  the  system. 
Normally  constituted  bodies  prefer  those 
odors  that  are  classified  as  pleasant,  yet  con- 
tinual personal  contact  with  emanations  that 
are  distinctly  disagreeable,  first  brings  toler- 
ance and  finally  pleasure  in  their  presence. 

172 


DIET 

Perhaps  this  departure  from  natural  law  and 
normal  instinct  can  be  illustrated  in  convinc- 
ing form  by  contemplating  the  sensual 
delight  of  the  epicure  in  cheeses  of  doubtful 
age  but  of  indubitable  rottenness. 

The  fallacy  of  attempting  practical  ap- 
plication of  a  theory  of  food  selection  based 
upon  taste  and  smell  alone  is  easily  demon- 
strated. The  question  resolves  itself  into  one 
concerning  the  needs  of  the  body,  but,  after 
a  fast,  taste  and  smell  are  restored  to  normal 
acuteness  and,  so  long  as  they  remain  in  this 
state,  they  may  be  used  as  partial  indicators. 
At  this  time  all  wholesome  food  gives  delight 
and  is  desired  with  a  hunger  created  in  a 
clean,  healthy  system  that  asks  for  nourish- 
ment and  that  fully  enjoys  its  ingestion. 
Simple  foods,  properly  prepared  and  cor- 
rectly proportioned  as  to  the  relative  amounts 
of  fats,  carbo-hydrates,  and  protein,  with 
the  necessary  mineral  salts,  are  what  the  dieti- 
tian and  the  patient  should  endeavor  to  sup- 
ply. The  fast  is  ended,  the  system  cleansed, 
and  the  digestive  organs  are  in  full  vigor, 
waiting  to  form  pure  blood  and  pure  tissue 
from  pure  food. 

No  further  detail  is  needed  to  show  that 
mankind  habitually  overeats  and  that,  as  a 

173 


FASTING1 


result,  nutritive  material  is  absorbed  into  the 
circulation  in  quantity  beyond  the  require- 
ments of  the  body,  loading  the  system  with 
an  unnecessary  and  harmful  burden  and 
hampering  with  poisonous  waste  the  opera- 
tion of  its  machinery.  But,  just  as  the  liver 
stands  guard,  in  so  far  as  it  may,  over  mat- 
ters absorbed,  and  just  as  it  separates  the 
good  from  the  bad,  so,  at  the  very  inception 
of  the  digestive  process,  the  mouth,  with  its 
armor  of  teeth  and  its  salivary  apparatus,  de- 
termines in  large  degree  the  amount  of  food 
needed  in  nutrition. 

The  mouth  holds  the  nerves  of  taste,  taste 
is  enjoyed  in  the  mouth,  and  taste  has  its 
great  purpose  in  deciding  just  when  food  has 
been  ground  between  the  teeth  sufficiently  to 
prepare  it  for  the  subsequent  processes. 
Taste  disappears  when  food  has  been 
properly  insalivated,  and  too  thorough  mas- 
tication cannot  occur,  for  the  benefits  derived 
are  immeasurable,  even  apart  from  the  com- 
minution of  solids.  The  mouth  easily  ac- 
complishes this  work  when  the  habit  of  mas- 
tication has  been  acquired,  but,  if  it  perform 
it  carelessly,  the  other  organs  of  digestion 
cannot  act  in  normal  function,  and,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  perfect  digestion  cannot  occur, 

174 


DIET 

since  one  of  its  processes  has  been  omitted. 
The  only  portion  of  the  operation  of  diges- 
tion that  can  be  voluntarily  controlled  is  that 
which  is  done  in  the  mouth,  hence  the  subject 
of  the  mastication  of  food  is  an  all-important 
one.  Its  value  in  the  economy  of  the  human 
body  is  excellently  treated  by  Horace 
Fletcher  in  his  "A-B-Z  of  our  own  Nutri- 
tion." 

Fletcher  says:  "When  food  is  filtered  into 
the  body  after  having  become  liquified  and 
made  alkaline  or  at  least  neutral  by  saliva,  the 
appetite  is  given  a  chance  to  measure  the 
needs  of  the  body  and  to  discriminate  against 
excess.  As  soon  as  the  point  of  complete 
saturation  of  any  one  deficiency  is  reached, 
the  appetite  is  cut  off  as  short  as  possible, 
with  no  indication  of  stomach  fullness.  It 
will  welcome  a  little  of  protein,  and  then  turn 
to  sugar  or  fat  in  some  of  their  numerous 
forms.  Thirst  for  water  will  assert  itself  for 
a  moment,  sometimes  asking  but  a  drop  and 
again  for  a  full  glass ;  and,  afterwards,  when 
near  the  point  of  complete  saturation,  appe- 
tite will  hesitate  for  a  moment,  as  if  searching 
around  for  some  rare  substance  and  may  find 
its  final  satisfaction  in  a  single  spoonful  of 
sweet,  or  of  a  sip  of  something  in  sight. 
ITS 


FASTING 

"The  appetite,  satisfied  by  the  infiltering 
process,  is  a  sweetly  appeased  appetite,  calm, 
rested,  contented,  normal.  There  is  no 
danger  from  the  flooding  of  intemperance 
for  there  is  not  even  toleration  of  excess, 
either  of  more  food  or  of  more  drink,  and 
this  contented  appetite  will  remain  in  the 
condition  of  contentment  until  another  need 
has  really  been  earned  by  evaporation  or  de- 
structive katabolism." 

Fletcher  uses  in  his  description  the  term, 
appetite,  in  the  sense  that  the  word,  hunger, 
is  employed  in  the  present  text.  In  the  con- 
ditions that  he  so  well  expresses  lies  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  overeating.  Masti- 
cation, carried  to  the  degree  that  taste  is 
neutralized,  absolutely  precludes  eating  save 
for  the  needs  of  metabolism.  The  supply  is 
made  equal  to  the  demand,  neither  more  nor 
less;  and  intemperance  in  food  or  drink  is 
effectively  prevented. 

A  scientific  discussion  of  the  question  of 
diet  is  manifestly  out  of  place  in  this  text. 
Authorities  differ  widely  and  none  has  dealt 
with  feeding  from  the  viewpoint  met  after  a 
fast,  with  a  stomach,  so  to  speak,  re-created. 

It  is  no  undue  iteration  to  again  point  out 

176 


DIET 

that  diet  is  largely  a  matter  of  special  need, 
and  that  no  fixed  rules  can  be  promulgated  to 
apply  in  every  case ;  but  certain  general  prin- 
ciples require  discussion,  of  which  the  first 
and  most  important  deals  with  the  use  or  non- 
use  of  meat.  Flesh  in  any  form  should  never 
enter  the  dietary  of  normal  man.  Argu- 
ments for  and  against  have  long  been  ex- 
changed on  this  subject,  and  advocates  of 
the  strongest  will  combat  the  non-flesh  diet 
for  years  to  come.  The  argument  that  serves 
to  refute  this  error  in  hygiene  contains, 
among  others,  the  following  premises :  First, 
dead  animal  tissue  holds  within  it  the 
products  of  metabolism.  The  process  of 
change  is  suddenly  arrested  when  the  animal 
is  killed,  and  the  juices  of  the  body  of  the 
latter  contain  un-eliminated  toxic  products 
from  broken-down  cell-tissue  that  no  process 
of  cooking  can  destroy.  For  that  matter, 
even  were  they  completely  annihilated,  flesh 
is  still  changed  vegetable  tissue  with  the 
waste  of  the  process  of  change  and  that  of 
the  living  organism  retained  in  its  structure, 
a  condition  that  logically  suggests  the  con- 
sumption of  the  plant  rather  than  of  its  crea- 
tion. In  addition,  decomposition  of  animal 
flesh  begins  at  the  moment  of  death,  and  by 

177 


FASTING 

the  time  it  is  consumed  as  food,  decay  has 
progressed  almost  to  the  point  of  putrefac- 
tion. In  the  fast  it  is  observed  that  excessive 
meat  eaters  and  patients  who  previously  have 
undergone  the  "Salisbury  treatment"  with 
its  forced  feeding  of  flesh,  exhibit  a  foulness 
in  elimination  so  much  beyond  that  in  all 
other  cases  that  it  renders  them  obnoxious 
even  to  themselves. 

Mr.  Otto  Carque  in  his  "Errors  of  Bio- 
Chemistry"  says:    "There  is  also  a  marked 
physiological  difference  between  plant  and 
animal    food.     Animals    are    distinguished 
from  vegetables  by  incessant  decay  in  every 
tissue,  a  decay  which  is  proportional  to  ani- 
mal activity.    This  incessant  decay  necessi- 
tates incessant  repair,  so  that  the  animal  body 
has  been  likened  to  a  temple  on  which  two 
opposite  forces  are  at  work  in  every  part, 
the  one  tearing  down,  the  other  repairing  the 
breach  as  fast  as  it  is  made.  In  plants  no  such 
incessant  decay  has  ever  been  discovered.  If 
it  exists  at  all,  it  must  be  very  trifling  in  com- 
parison. Protoplasm,  it  is  true,  is  taken  from 
the  older  parts  of  the  plant,  and  these  parts 
die;  but  the  protoplasm  does  not  seem  to  de- 
compose, but  is  used  again  for  tissue  build- 
ing.  Thus  the  eternal  activity  of  animals  is 

178 


DIET 

of  two  kinds,  tissue-destroying  and  tissue- 
building,  while  that  of  plants  is  principally 
of  one  kind,  tissue  building.  Flesh  foods 
will,  therefore,  impart  less  vitality  to  our  sys- 
tem than  plant  foods,  because  the  former 
always  contain  a  quantity  of  substances 
which  have  undergone  the  various  stages  of 
katabolism  and  have  lost  their  vital  force. 
We  feel  drowsy  and  indolent  after  a  heavy 
meal  of  meat,  while  an  apple,  an  orange,  a 
bunch  of  grapes,  instantly  refreshes  us.  The 
theories  that  flesh  makes  flesh,  that  blood  is 
converted  into  blood,  that  calf's  or  sheep's 
brain  increases  our  mental  capacity,  that 
meat  is  predigested  plant  food,  cannot  stand 
in  the  light  of  physiological  chemistry." 

And  again,  recent  experiments  carried  out 
most  thoroughly  by  Irving  Fisher,  Professor 
of  Political  Economy  at  Yale  University, 
show  beyond  any  chance  of  refutation  that 
the  physical  endurance  of  the  human  body  is 
increased  to  the  utmost  by  non-flesh  diet.  In 
the  course  of  these  experiments  meat-eating 
athletes  competed  in  test  exercises  with  non- 
meat  eaters,  both  sedentary  and  active  in  oc- 
cupation. The  results  were  so  largely  in 
favor  of  the  non-flesh  diet  that  the  most 
ardent  advocates  of  the  opposite  side  can  find 

179 


FASTING 

no  loop-hole  through  which  to  escape  from 
the  facts. 

No  adequate  explanation  is  as  yet  available 
of  the  evident  superiority  of  a  vegetarian  diet 
over  one  of  flesh  as  regards  endurance,  save, 
perhaps,  in  the  theory  that  a  diet  composed 
in  greater  part  of  proteid  produces  uric  acid 
and  other  crystalline  substances,  which  in  turn 
cause  muscular  fatigue  in  exercise.  The  facts 
are  patent  in  these  instances  as  related,  as 
well  as  in  the  experiments  made  by  the  author 
of  the  text  along  similar  lines  during  the  past 
twelve  years.  The  results  obtained  demon- 
strate that  a  non-flesh  diet  builds  a  consis- 
tently strong  and  enduring  physical  struc- 
ture, while  the  reverse  is  true  in  great  part 
when  meat  figures  in  the  list  of  food  in- 
gested. In  the  past,  facts  such  as  these  have 
been  obscured  and  the  truth  has  suffered  be- 
cause the  idea  contained  in  the  term,  "vege- 
tarian," suggested  what  was  popularly  re- 
garded as  fanaticism  carried  beyond  all 
bounds.  In  the  history  of  the  world  no  doc- 
trine advanced  with  polemical  warmth  and 
coupled  with  enthusiasm  and  dogma  almost 
religious,  has  ever  had  influence  upon  scien- 
tific thought,  and,  for  this  reason,  the  matter 
needs  to  be  approached  deliberately  and  dis- 

180 


DIET 

passionately,  and  with  the  seriousness  befit- 
ting a  subject  that  is  of  more  practical  im- 
port than  any  other  in  the  whole  range  of 
hygienic  research.  When  this  shall  have  been 
accomplished,  the  theory  embodied  in  the  re- 
sults of  the  tests  mentioned  will  be  fully 
borne  out  and  conclusively  established  as  a 
living  truth. 

With  the  individual  himself  rests  the  selec- 
tion of  a  healthful  and  properly  distributed 
food  supply.  In  order  to  maintain  a  normal 
body  in  perfect  equilibrium,  the  amount  and 
the  selection  of  food  require  careful  con- 
sideration. Quantity  depends  upon  physical 
characteristics  and  the  kind  of  labor  at  which 
the  subject  is  employed.  A  working  man  de- 
stroys more  tissue  in  shorter  time  than  does 
the  banker  or  the  clerk ;  yet,  usually,  the  lat- 
ter eat  no  fewer  meals  nor  less  at  a  sitting 
than  their  burly  brother.  What  is  needed  for 
the  one  is  far  more  than  sufficient  for  the 
others.  Should  the  brain- worker  devote  spare 
time  to  outdoor  recreation  or  to  manual 
labor  a  mean  might  be  established;  but,  in 
general,  equilibrium  is  seldom  reached,  and 
the  supply  of  food  is  far  in  excess  of  require- 
ment. The  laboring  man,  too,  is  at  fault  in 
this  respect,  for,  unless  his  be  an  exceptional 

181 


FASTING 


case,  the  basis  of  diet  is  starch,  which  carries 
its  nutritive  principle  in  a  bulky  vehicle,  de- 
manding extra  labor  from  the  digestive  tract 
in  order  to  separate  waste  from  nutriment 
and  to  eliminate  the  former. 

To  reduce  the  supply  of  food  to  the  re- 
ciprocal basis  of  demand,  the  plan  that  sug- 
gests the  omission  of  the  early  morning 
breakfast  is  perhaps  the  easiest  method  to  fol- 
low, and,  once  the  habit  is  acquired,  this  meal 
is  scarcely  missed.  Common  sense  indicates 
that  food  ingested  soon  after  rising  is  really 
detrimental  to  the  body  and  the  mind,  for 
the  brain  and  the  nervous  system  are  recuper- 
ated by  the  night's  rest,  and  tissue  cells  have 
been  replaced  while  the  body  slept.  In 
fact,  the  reasoning  power  is  retarded  and 
hampered  in  its  action  by  the  presence  of 
food  in  the  stomach,  since  the  latter  calls 
energy  elsewhere  and  deprives  the  brain  of 
just  so  much  of  its  motive  power.  The  whole 
mental  and  nervous  systems  are  at  their  max- 
imum of  energy  in  the  early  morning;  the 
blood,  in  its  double  function,  has  replaced 
the  waste  it  has  carried  away,  and  the  entire 
human  fabric  stands  at  the  threshold  of  the 
day  ready  for  anything  but  the  process  of 
digesting  food.  There  is  no  true  hunger  at 

182 


DIET 

this  time;  habit  alone  causes  fictitious  desire. 

Hunger  determines  the  hours  for  the  in- 
gestion  of  food  each  day.  Regularity  of 
habit  as  to  the  times  for  serving  meals  is  an 
outgrowth  of  economic  convenience,  and 
more  often  than  not  the  participant  is  im- 
posing a  burden  upon  a  system  in  no  need, 
therefore  with  no  desire  of  sustenance.  In 
health,  dependent  upon  occupation,  hunger 
makes  demand  at  least  once  but  not  more 
than  twice  daily,  if  the  previous  demand  has 
been  satisfied. 

In  much  that  has  been  written  concerning 
the  matter  of  diet  there  are  so  many  sweep- 
ing and  conflicting  statements,  impossible 
rules,  and  foolish  conclusions,  that  no  wonder 
is  felt  at  the  fact  that  the  whole  subject  is 
usually  ignored  as  too  intricate.  There  are 
many  who  try  to  enforce  personal  ideas  upon 
others  in  this  connection ;  very  persistent  peo- 
ple these,  to  whom  the  term,  "crank,"  may 
well  be  applied,  and  a  "crank,"  who  has 
picked  up  some  scientific  jargon  and  thinks 
himself  cured  of  his  ailments,  works  more 
harm  than  good  in  the  world.  This  class  may 
be  extended  to  include  those  who  really  have 
been  benefited  by  a  diet  that  happens  to  suit 
personal  requirements,  and  it  comprises  also 

183 


FASTING 

the  one-food  people  who  are  in  continual 
search  of  what  not  to  devour,  and  who  would 
reduce  the  universe  to  whole  wheat  and  pe- 
cans. By  these,  at  each  encounter  with  their 
fellowmen,  are  discovered  disease  symptoms 
identical  with  their  own,  for  which  the  same 
remedy  is  insisted  upon  and  perhaps  applied. 
It  is  absurd  for  any  who  are  not  familiar  with 
the  chemistry  of  foods  to  endeavor  to  talk 
learnedly  of  their  action  in  human  economy, 
and  it  may  be  taken  as  an  axiom  that,  within 
the  individual  capacity,  which  can  be  known 
only  by  individual  experiment,  a  diet  limited 
in  variety  to  not  more  than  three  propor- 
tioned items  at  each  meal  is  more  conducive 
to  health  than  unlimited  choice  or  a  single 
dish.  A  list  that  is  strictly  limited  to  few 
things  trains  the  stomach  to  adapt  itself  ac- 
cordingly, and  eventually  trouble  ensues 
when  change  is  attempted. 

After  all,  the  amount  of  food  and  the  kind 
thereof  are  of  secondary  importance  to  the 
physical  condition  of  the  digestive  apparatus 
of  the  subject.  It  must  continually  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  state  of  the  digestive  or- 
gans is  the  crux  of  the  whole  situation. 
Therein  lies  health  or  illness.  The  aim  of 
physician  and  of  patient  should  constantly  be 
directed  at  the  restoration  of  the  system  to 

184 


DIET 

health,  after  which  its  maintenance  in  this 
condition  requires  careful  attention  to  the 
selection  and  to  the  quantity  of  food. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


"Whosoever  is  out  of  patience,  is  out  of  possession 
of  his  body  and  his  soul." 

Lord  Bacon. 


187 


CHAPTER  XIII 

MENTAL  AND  BODILY  REACTION 

BODILY  action  may  be  brought  about 
in  two  ways — through  the  brain,  or 
through  internal  or  external  physical 
causes.  In  either  case  the  nerve  centers  per- 
form their  functions,  either  in  the  inception 
of  the  thought  or  in  the  transfer  of  outward 
or  inward  cause.  The  act  of  moving  the  hand 
may  originate  in  the  brain,  or  it  may  occur 
through  the  fact  that  the  member  is  in  close 
proximity  to  fire.  In  the  former  circum- 
stance the  act  begins  with  the  thought  in  the 
brain,  and  nervous  influence  operates  directly 
upon  moving  muscles.  In  the  second  condi- 
tion the  sensory  nerves  inform  the  brain  that 
the  flesh  is  burning,  and  the  brain  sets  in 
motion  the  muscles  necessary  to  move  the 
hand.  In  both  instances  the  moving  power 
emanates  from  the  brain,  and  the  phenome- 
non as  described  may  happen  in  connection 
with  any  specific  portion  of  the  body.  Not 

189 


FASTING 


only  are  these  facts  true  of  the  voluntary 
muscles,  but  they  may  also  be  observed  in 
similar  phase  in  heart,  lungs,  stomach,  and 
the  organs  of  function  in  general.  Swallow- 
ing an  emetic  causes  vomiting,  an  effect 
brought  about  through  muscular  convulsion 
of  the  stomach  for  the  purpose  of  ejecting 
a  substance  irritating  to  its  nerves.  The  mere 
sight  or  thought  of  a  disgusting  object  may 
have  the  same  consequence,  and  imagination 
is  oftentimes  able  to  produce  results  like  that 
occasioned  by  a  powerful  drug  or  by  a  com- 
bination of  physical  conditions. 

Every  organic  act,  healthy  or  diseased,  is 
due  solely  to  a  current  sent  from  one  of  the 
great  nerve  centers,  and  the  latter  may  be 
called  into  being  either  indirectly  by  reflex 
action,  or  directly  by  feeling  or  thought. 
Though  the  mind  and  the  emotions  have 
large  influence  over  physical  functions,  the 
field  of  operation  over  which  that  influence 
extends  is  comparatively  little  known.  It  is, 
in  some  respects,  almost  unbounded,  for 
every  bodily  function  may  be  hastened,  re- 
tarded, or  even  totally  suspended,  and  life 
itself  may  be  destroyed  by  the  subjective  ef- 
fect of  thought.  Pleasurable  emotions  are 
physically  healthful ;  painful  ones  the  reverse ; 

190 


MENTAL  AND  BODILYREACTION 

but,  when  too  intense  and  sudden,  either  can 
terminate  life. 

The  fibres  of  the  pneumogastric  nerve  are 
distributed  principally  in  and  about  the  lungs 
and  the  stomach;  hence  its  name.  Whatever 
may  be  the  motor  functions  that  this  nerve 
supplies,  it  largely  influences  the  progress  of 
digestion,  for,  when  its  fibres  are  cut  below 
those  branches  that  extend  to  the  trachea,  di- 
gestion is  virtually  arrested.  Nervous  influ- 
ence is  essential  to  the  proper  action  of  the 
stomach,  and,  in  the  region  of  this  organ,  the 
nerves  are  so  interlaced  one  with  the  other 
that,  even  though  the  direct  road  be  de- 
stroyed, by-paths  will  still  remain  for  the 
passage  of  nerve  energy.  If  the  latter  were 
not  needed  in  digestion,  no  reason  would  exist 
for  the  suspension  of  function  by  its  with- 
drawal, and  the  invariable  effect  of  worry, 
anxiety,  fright,  and  anger  is  to  arrest  for  a 
time  all  digestive  action.  The  cause  is  obvious 
when  the  close  connection  between  the  brain 
and  the  nerve  ganglia  is  considered.  If 
nervous  force  is  diverted  in  directions  other 
than  those  followed  in  the  digestion  of  food, 
exactly  similar  results  occur  as  when  the 
pneumogastric  nerve  is  severed. 

Does  the  physical  condition  of  the  body  in 

191 


like  manner  affect  the  mind?  Observation 
shows  not  only  that  it  does  influence  brain 
function,  but  that  the  results  of  disease  are 
always  and  continuously  displayed  mentally. 
In  many  of  the  ordinary  hypochondriacal 
disturbances,  in  melancholia,  and  in  the  vari- 
ous manias,  other  forms  of  treatment  should 
be  accompanied  by  correction  of  deranged 
digestive  function. 

In  health  the  constructive  and  destructive 
changes  that  take  place  in  the  human  body 
progress  without  noticeable  diminution  or  in- 
crease in  excellence  of  brain  quality,  so  long 
as  waste  material  is  promptly  removed  and 
suitable  food  is  supplied  and  properly  assimi- 
lated. 

In  conditions  of  debility  and  weakness, 
whenever  the  influx  is  too  large  for  the  de- 
mand, or  the  waste  too  great  for  disposal  by 
the  organs  of  elimination,  absorption  of  the 
poisons  generated  in  fermenting  food  rub- 
bish retained  in  the  intestinal  tract  is  continu- 
ously occurring,  and  the  subject  becomes  a 
victim  of  auto-intoxication,  is  drunk  with  the 
products  of  his  own  decomposition.  This 
condition,  if  long  continued,  is  no  less  bane- 
ful in  effect  than  that  of  alcoholic  saturation, 
and,  in  some  cases,  it  may  take  the  form  of 

199 


MENTAL  AND  BODILYREACTION 

insanity,  while,  in  all,  diminished  brain 
power  is  evident. 

The  digestion  of  a  meal,  with  the  subse- 
quent forcing  of  food  waste  through  the 
bowels,  consumes  brain  energy  in  greater 
amount  than  does  any  ordinary  work  of 
muscle  or  of  mind,  and  the  result  is  apparent 
in  weakened  vitality,  which  overfeeding 
never  fails  to  show.  Sufficient  food,  per- 
fectly digested,  produces  a  body  with  brain 
equal  to  clear  thought  and  maximum  of  en- 
ergy. More  than  this  entails  excessive  labor 
upon  the  organs  of  digestion  and  consequent 
overtax  of  vitality. 

The  cause  of  mental  disease  is  one  and  the 
same  with  that  of  physical  disturbance.  The 
physical  signs  precede  the  mental  danger  sig- 
nals and  should  be  heeded  and  remedied  when 
first  displayed. 

The  close  connection  between  mental  and 
physical  functions  is  always  prominently  ex- 
hibited in  the  consequences  of  the  fast,  and 
never  more  so  than  in  the  treatment  of  those 
morbid  depressions  that  often  lead  to  con- 
finement in  state  institutions.  These  cases 
originate  in  the  abuse  of  the  digestive  organs, 
which,  coupled  with  hereditary  tendencies, 
affects  the  nerve  centers  and  ultimately  the 

193 


FASTING 


brain.  During  the  fast  constant  improve- 
ment in  mental  capacity  is  shown  after 
proper  preparation  on  restricted  diet  and 
omitted  meals;  and,  as  the  fast  progresses, 
the  return  to  sanity  proceeds  at  a  rate  com- 
mensurate with  physical  advance.  A  general 
fact  observed  in  treating  this  symptom  of 
disease,  when  functional  in  origin,  is  the  pres- 
ence of  quantities  of  dark,  foul-smelling  dis- 
charges from  the  bowels,  which  do  not  de- 
crease, either  in  amount  or  in  vileness,  until 
long  after  the  period  indicated  in  ordinary 
disease.  The  value  of  the  fast  as  employed 
in  cases  of  extreme  nervousness  and  of  in- 
sanity from  functional  causes,  is  almost  un- 
known to  alienists,  but  in  the  near  future  it 
is  bound  to  receive  recognition  as  a  certain 
means  of  cure. 

Due  to  superficial  observation  of  the  delir- 
ium of  auto-intoxication  sometimes  present 
in  the  early  stages  of  the  fast,  the  criticism 
has  been  advanced  that  prolonged  abstinence 
from  food  not  only  produces  weakened  men- 
tality in  the  patient,  but  that  it  will  eventu- 
ally cause  insanity.  Fasting  never  entails  a 
loss  of  mental  power,  and  this  statement  is 
based  upon  experience  gathered  from  con- 
siderably over  two  thousand  cases  of  fasting 

194 


MENTAL  AND  BODILYREACTION 

in  which  not  one  developed  aught  but  im- 
provement in  brain  function. 

All  functional  derangements,  when  not 
corrected,  finally  lead  to  organic  disease. 

In  organic  disease  some  portion  of  the 
bodily  machinery  is  unable  to  perform  its 
work;  its  structure  is  injured  or  essentially 
imperfect. 

In  functional  disease,  the  structure  of  the 
organ  shows  no  defect,  yet  it  is  inefficient  in 
action  because  of  nerve  force  impeded. 

It  is  an  established  fact  that  drugs  do  not 
affect  brain  structure;  and  it  is  equally  well 
known  that,  in  most  instances,  insanity  causes 
no  deterioration  in  nerve  tissue.  In  these 
facts  lies  strong  collateral  proof  that  the 
sources  of  mental  disease  are  to  be  sought 
elsewhere  than  in  the  brain.  Injuries  and 
ailments  that  involve  change  in  brain  sub- 
stance will  necessarily  interfere  with  brain 
function,  and,  in  softening  of  nerve  tissue  or 
in  any  inflammation,  there  are  organic  alter- 
ations'that  may  be  seen  and  noted.  Incident- 
ally these  defects  are  primarily  due  to  con- 
tinued functional  disease.  But  in  hysteria, 
epilepsy,  and  mania,  no  changes  in  structure 
in  brain  and  nerve  substance  can  be  discov- 
ered, notwithstanding  the  presence  of  ex- 

195 


FASTING 


treme  mental  disorder.  It  may  be  deduced 
that  a  functionally  perfect  brain  is  the 
product  of  a  physically  perfect  body. 

To  illustrate  the  effect  of  abnormal  phy- 
sical conditions  upon  mind-function,  the  fol- 
lowing case  is  cited:  The  patient,  a  man 
thirty  years  of  age,  presented  himself  with 
a  history  of  continuous  digestive  trouble,  ac- 
companied with  strongly  developed  mental 
disturbance.  Examination  created  the  im- 
pression that  the  disease  of  the  mind  was  the 
direct  result  of  functional  inactivity  of  the 
digestive  tract,  complicated  with  decided  or- 
ganic symptoms.  A  tentative  diet  of  fruit 
juices  and  vegetable  broths  afforded  the  re- 
lief usual  when  organic  labor  is  progressively 
decreased.  Experience  is  needful  to  dis- 
tinguish between  temporary  mitigation  of  the 
distress  of  disease  and  progress  towards  cure, 
and,  though  the  symptoms  were  favorable  to 
the  extent  of  raising  the  belief  in  the  mind  of 
the  patient  that  recovery  would  ensue,  no 
definite  hope  was  extended.  At  the  end  of 
four  weeks  of  preparatory  treatment,  the 
patient  ceased  his  visits,  and  a  month  later 
his  body  was  found,  dead  by  suicide,  an  act 
committed,  as  its  condition  showed,  within  a 
few  days  after  discontinuing  treatment.  The 

196 


MENTAL  AND  BODILY  RE  ACTION 

actions  of  the  man  throughout,  together  with 
the  contents  of  a  letter  found  on  his  person, 
were  evidence  that  decided  lack  of  mental 
balance  existed,  and  search  of  his  effects 
brought  to  light  numbers  of  long,  rambling, 
scribbled  comments  that  left  no  doubt  con- 
cerning mental  decay.  The  body  was  in 
shape  such  that  post  mortem  examination  was 
possible,  and  the  autopsy  revealed  the  follow- 
ing: The  kidneys  were  normal.  The  lungs 
and  the  heart  were  congested,  but  function- 
ally equal  to  their  tasks.  The  liver  was  cirr- 
hosed,  and  there  was  only  a  rudimentary  gall 
sac,  not  larger  than  the  first  joint  of  the  adult 
index  finger,  containing  no  bile  and  with  no 
evidence  that  it  had  been  functioning,  since 
no  stain  was  present,  and  the  color  of  the 
sac  was  a  perfect  white.  The  stomach  was 
enlarged  to  the  capacity  of  four  fluid  quarts, 
and  it  lay  in  the  abdominal  cavity  opposite 
the  navel;  it  was  filled  with  food,  and  all  evi- 
dences pointed  to  the  fact  that  glandular 
function  had  been  inoperative  for  months. 
The  small  intestines  were  tangled  and 
knotted  into  a  mass,  with  bleached  portions 
that  had  been  inactive  for  a  long  time.  The 
colon  was  excessively  dilated,  and  its  trans- 
verse section  had  fallen,  shaping  the  organ 

19T 


FASTING 

into  a  letter  "M"  with  the  vertex  of  the 
dropped  tube  resting  upon  the  bladder  and 
the  pelvic  bones;  the  transverse,  ascending, 
and  descending  parts  adhered  at  their  angles 
for  several  inches.  The  bladder  was  normal. 
The  pancreas  was  a  soft  disintegrated  mass. 
The  spleen  was  extremely  large  and  cirr- 
hosed.  The  mesentery  exhibited  old  lesions, 
while  no  trace  of  the  omentum  remained. 
The  brain  was  structurally  perfect. 

The  above  instance  of  a  body  exceedingly 
deformed  internally  was  preserved  with  its 
handicaps  for  thirty  years.  The  cause  of 
the  organic  defects  is  to  be  attributed  to 
digestive  functions  paralyzed  in  early  life  by 
disease  and  by  the  administration  of  drugs 
as  a  remedy.  In  this  case  progressive  in- 
ability to  function  brought  about  morbid 
mental  disturbance.  It  may  be  asked  why 
this  effect  was  not  produced  in  each  of  the 
instances  cited  under  another  heading,  and 
reply  is  made  that  these  also  showed  the  in- 
fluences of  physical  condition  upon  mind- 
function,  but  in  lesser  degree.  And  the  gen- 
eral conclusion  is  stated  that  all  disease,  func- 
tional as  well  as  organic,  acts  detrimentally 
upon  brain  capability. 

The  work  that  the  brain  can  perform  is 

198 


MENTAL  AND  BODILYREACTION 

dependent  upon  the  physical  condition  of  the 
body.  To  repeat,  a  functionally  perfect 
brain  is  the  product  of  a  physically  perfect 
body,  but  the  brain  is  not  a  producer  of  en- 
ergy, nor  of  vitality,  nor  of  mental  processes. 
It  acts  merely  as  a  medium  of  reception  and 
transmission,  and  it  no  more  thinks  than  do 
the  words  that  express  a  thought.  Mind,  as 
received  from  the  creative  source  is  perfect. 
Its  expression  is  affected  by  functional  abil- 
ity or  inability  in  the  human  instrument. 

The  mysterious  forces,  energy  and  vitality, 
which  are  manifested  as  life,  exist  outside  of 
and  independent  of  the  human  body.  A 
healthy  organism  is  one  that  is  in  position  to 
liberate  these  forces  in  the  form  of  strength, 
mental  and  physical,  as  it  is  needed  in  the 
activities.  When,  through  the  fast,  dead  and 
noxious  refuse  is  eliminated,  the  expression 
of  each  of  these  qualities  is  evident,  and  we 
learn  that  man  does  not  depend  upon  food 
for  strength,  nor  for  the  accompaniment  of 
energy,  body  heat.  Food  is  needed  only  for 
the  repair  of  broken-down  tissue,  for  the  up- 
building and  rebuilding  of  the  framework 
that  carries  the  human  soul.  The  conclusion 
is  not  to  be  drawn  in  the  absolute  that 
strength  will  be  manifest  and  that  life  may 

199 


FASTING 


be  continued  indefinitely  in  the  absence  of 
food,  nor  is  it  to  be  assumed  that  in  the 
process  of  evolution  man  may  reach  an  ideal 
state  of  foodless  existence.  These  are  but 
hypotheses  of  idle  dreamers.  The  source  of 
life  will  possibly  always  remain  an  enigma 
to  finite  understanding,  and  its  manifesta- 
tions can  do  naught  but  continue  to  offer  op- 
portunity for  speculation. 

The  theory  that  human  energy  and  body 
heat  are  not  derived  from  food  ingested  was 
advanced  some  years  ago  by  Dr.  E.  H. 
Dewey,  and  every  application  of  the  fast  for 
the  cure  of  disease  adds  evidence  to  corrobo- 
rate its  verity.  In  the  fast,  when  elimination 
has  progressed  to  the  point  that  disease  is 
eradicated,  the  avenues  for  the  expression 
of  energy  and  vitality  permit  of  the  manifes- 
tation of  strength — strength  that  was  appar- 
ently lost  on  full  daily  ration  when  illness 
began.  As  previously  noted,  in  disease  the 
liberation  of  life  force  is  made  impossible  be- 
cause of  physical  obstacles  in  the  paths  of 
expression.  As  disease  vanishes,  natural 
hunger  and  strength  return.  Food  is  not  the 
source  of  this  phenomenon,  since  the  condi- 
tion results  in  its  absence.  The  conclusion  is 
forced  that  Energy  is  an  entity  and  that  the 

200 


MENTAL  AND  BODILYREACTION 

human  body  is  but  a  vehicle  for  its  manifes- 
tation. 

Again,  in  disease,  body  temperature  and 
pulse  may  be  above  or  below  register.  In 
the  fast,  when  purification  is  complete,  tem- 
perature and  pulse  are  restored  to  normal. 
Food  plays  no  more  part  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  result  than  it  does  in  the  restor- 
ation of  strength.  Each  instance  of  fasting 
for  the  cure  of  disease  perfectly  demonstrates 
the  basis  in  fact  of  the  theory  that  food  serves 
the  sole  purpose  of  repair  and  growth  of 
body  tissue,  and  that  the  source  of  vital  en- 
ergy and  of  body  heat  lies  without  the  human 
frame.  The  brain  is  its  organ  of  reception, 
and  it  is  significant  that  this  instrument  of 
function  recovers  from  fatigue  through  rest 
and  not  because  of  the  assimilation  of  food. 
Nerve  sustenance  is  obtained  from  its  store- 
house in  the  body,  but  nerve  energy  is  re- 
newed through  the  breath  of  lif  e. 


901 


CHAPTER  XIV 


CHILDREN  IN  THE  FAST 
i 


"Keep  the  young  generation  in  hail  and  bequeathe 
them  no  tumbled  house." 

George  Meredith. 


908 


CHAPTER  XIV 

CHILDREN  IN  THE  FAST 

WHEN  the  human  child  is  born  into 
the  world,  it  is  equipped  with  but 
three  developed  faculties — hunger, 
thirst,  and  sleep.  The  infant,  if  capable  of 
expressed  desire,  would  signify  its  greatest 
need  as  sleep,  but  its  rest  is  naturally  punc- 
tuated with  hunger  periods,  and  at  these 
times  and  at  no  others  it  should  be  fed.  To 
awaken  a  quietly  sleeping  child  for  the  pur- 
pose of  administering  food  is  most  inadvis- 
able, yet  nurse  and  mother,  burdened  with 
professional  tradition  and  advice,  in  over- 
zealous  care  rarely  permit  a  two-hour  interval 
to  pass  without  forcing  food  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  baby,  asleep  or  awake.  The  child 
will,  through  habit,  take  the  breast  and  suckle 
for  longer  or  shorter  time,  but  its  rest  has 
been  disturbed,  and  its  small  digestive  ap- 
paratus is  never  free  from  labor  as  long  as 
mother  or  nurse  can  stimulate  appetite.  Dis- 
obedience to  natural  law  brings  its  penalty, 

206 


FASTING 

and  disease  invariably  appears  to  right  the 
wrong.  Feed  the  baby  only  at  the  dictate 
of  the  natural  hunger  cry,  but  begin  the 
process  at  the  beginning  before  a  vicious 
habit  of  expectation  and  appetite  has  a 
chance  to  form.  With  the  exception  of  in- 
herited blood  taint,  overfeeding  the  child  is 
the  great  cause  of  infantile  disease,  and  it 
could  not  occur  if  the  first  hunger  instinct 
were  permitted  to  guide  the  infant  from 
birth.  Actual  need  alone  would  then  be  sat- 
isfied, and  the  artificial  sense  of  appetite  that 
might  develop  could  be  curbed  and  directed. 
At  birth  the  physical  connection  between 
the  child  and  its  mother  must  of  necessity  be 
severed.  One  of  the  mistakes  in  modern  ob- 
stetrics is  the  wide-spread  practice  of  cutting 
the  umbilical  cord  before  the  cessation  of  its 
natural  pulsations.  Interchange  of  oxygen 
and  of  nutriment  between  mother  and  foetus 
has  taken  place  through  this  avenue  for  the 
whole  period  of  gestation,  and  by  this  means 
alone  has  the  baby  frame  been  built  to  the 
moment  of  birth.  Its  final  use  and  its  last 
pulsations  insure  tissue-nourishment  suffi- 
cient to  carry  the  child  until  food  for  post- 
natal growth  can  be  furnished  from  the 
breast  of  the  mother.  Nature  thus  provides 

206 


CHILDREN    IN    THE    FAST 

for  the  maintenance  of  the  child-body  until 
the  maternal  supply  is  ready  to  be  utilized. 
Haste  in  cutting  the  cord  starts  the  infant 
badly,  and  hunger  is  asserted  much  earlier 
in  these  circumstances. 

When  departure  is  made  from  the  laws  of 
nature,  abnormal  physical  conditions  are  pro- 
duced, and  penalties  are  exacted.  The  nor- 
mal food  and  the  only  food  that  is  designed 
for  infant  use  is  mother's  milk.  At  birth 
delay  in  its  appearance  is  often  noted,  and 
perhaps  for  two  or  three  days  its  secretion 
is  absent.  Reference  to  the  function  per- 
formed by  the  umbilical  cord  directly  after 
birth  offers  explanation  why,  in  this  event, 
excessive  haste  need  not  occur  in  attempt  at 
artificial  feeding.  If,  as  unfortunately  is 
too  often  the  case  in  modern  life,  the  mother 
finds  herself  incapable  of  furnishing  food 
for  her  child,  a  substitute  can  then  be  ob- 
tained. The  ideal  method  makes  use  of  the 
wet-nurse,  and,  if  this  cannot  be  done,  water- 
diluted  top-milk  from  a  healthy  cow,  with 
sugar  of  milk  or  honey  added  sufficient  to 
supply  as  nearly  as  possible  the  constituents 
of  mother's  milk  is  the  nearest  and  best  alter- 
native. Prepared  foods  are  doubtful  in 
effect,  and  they  agree  with  the  child,  or 

207 


FASTING 

rather  the  child  agrees  with  any  one  of  the 
many  kinds  on  the  market,  only  in  excep- 
tional circumstances. 

The  contention  that  all  disease  has  its 
origin  in  impaired  digestive  power  is  more 
strongly  upheld  when  disturbances  occur  in 
the  young  than  when  the  adult  organism  is 
affected.  In  the  child,  unaccustomed  to  con- 
tinued abuse  of  the  body  and  its  functions, 
and  with  no  harmful  habits  formed,  the  sys- 
tem resents  any  but  natural  treatment.  If 
the  contrary  is  persistently  followed,  disease 
develops. 

The  physical  condition  of  a  nursing  mother 
is  invariably  reflected  in  the  body  of  her 
child,  and  mental  disturbances,  temporary  or 
permanent  have  like  effect.  Through  nerv- 
ous derangement  of  functional  power,  in- 
duced by  disease  or  by  anxiety,  grief,  or 
anger,  such  changes  are  occasioned  in  moth- 
er's milk  as  to  cause  serious  illness  in  the 
suckling  child.  It  is  therefore  incumbent 
upon  the  parent  so  to  regulate  her  physical 
body  through  a  dietary  regime  as  to  correct 
in  herself  the  error  in  milk  quality,  and  so 
to  conserve  her  mental  forces  as  to  prevent 
systemic  disease  and  nerve  tension,  with 

008 


B.  H.  One  year  old.  Stomach  and  intestinal 
trouble.  Fasted  six  days.  Weight  at  end  of  fast, 
14%  pounds.  Eight  months  after  fast  in  perfect 
health;  weight,  25  pounds. 


CHILDREN    IN    THE    FAST 

their  detrimental  influences  upon  infant  di- 
gestion. 

When  infantile  disease  is  manifested,  a 
medically  treated  child  is  still  more  hampered 
in  its  physical  processes.  Drugs  are  poisons, 
and  their  introduction  into  the  body  of  an 
infant  suffering  from  food  excess  or  from 
the  results  of  erroneous  diet  in  the  mother, 
works  havoc  with  tender  nerves  and  tissue, 
horrifying  to  the  mind  trained  on  lines  of 
natural  remedy.  Drugs  aim  at  the  sup- 
pression of  the  symptom  and  not  at  the  re- 
moval of  the  cause,  and  many  an  adult  body 
is  compelled  to  struggle  through  life  handi- 
capped by  undeveloped,  partially  paralyzed 
mechanism,  as  the  result  of  dosage  in  in- 
faqcy. 

The  disease  symptoms  of  childhood  fre- 
quently assume  what  is  known  as  epidemic 
form.  Contagion  and  infection  depend  ab- 
solutely upon  the  physical  condition  of  the 
system  and  not  upon  the  germ,  always  pres- 
ent or  introduced  from  other  sources.  The 
care  of  the  parent  should  be  directed  toward 
the  preservation  of  health,  with  its  resistive 
qualities  in  the  body  of  the  growing  child; 
and,  if  through  carelessness,  or  ignorance,  or 
accident,  this  condition  may  fail  of  conserva- 

209 


FASTING 


tion,  toward  the  prompt  removal  of  the  soil 
in  which  the  germ  propagates  and  dies. 
Germicides  merely  succeed  in  destroying  the 
microbe,  a  process  that  adds  decomposing 
material  to  an  already  fertile  and  expectant 
medium.  And  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that 
a  poison  powerful  enough  to  kill  living  or- 
ganisms within  the  body  is  of  strength  suffi- 
cient to  deal  destruction  to  cell  life  itself,  and 
this  it  also  does. 

Referring  to  a  former  statement  concern- 
ing the  administration  of  food  while  high 
temperature  prevails,  the  question  may  here 
be  asked : — Why  put  food  into  a  feverish  in- 
fant body?  A  roaring  fire  is  x>t  ordinarily 
subdued  by  adding  fuel  to  the  flame,  and, 
until  disease  made  its  appearance,  the  patient 
was  ingesting  food,  and,  in  all  probability, 
was  stricken  with  a  full  stomach.  Fever,  as 
a  symptom,  is  caused  by  absorption  into  the 
circulation  of  the  products  of  excess  food 
rotting  in  the  alimentary  canal,  and,  when 
additional  material  for  fermentation  is 
forced  into  this  mass,  either  from  above  or 
below,  the  results  are  a  rise  in  temperature 
and  more  aggravated  symptoms.  The  fur- 
ther question  is  suggested: — Why  administer 
drugs  at  this  time?  These  are  either  stimu- 

210 


CHILDREN    IN    THE    FAST 

lants  or  narcotics — the  former  increase  the 
action  of  the  heart  and  with  it  the  tempera- 
ture, while  the  latter  reduce  nerve  transmis- 
sion. In  addition  medical  treatment  usually 
calls  for  nutriment  at  intervals  of  three  to 
four  hours,  and  food  is  administered  in  the 
natural  manner,  or,  when  symptoms  of  an 
especially  acute  nature  are  present,  per  rec- 
tum. In  the  body  of  the  child,  the  effects  of 
both  overfeeding  and  of  drugs  are  long- 
lasting,  and  here  most  emphatically  the 
method  to  be  employed  should  remove  fer- 
menting rubbish,  the  cause  of  the  condition. 
As  in  the  adult,  when  disease  appears, 
prompt  withholding  of  food  removes  through 
active  elimination  the  immediate  cause  of  dis- 
turbance; an  enema,  or  several  of  them, 
cleanses  the  bowels  of  toxic  digestive  prod- 
ucts ;  fever  is  abated ;  diarrhoea  and  colic  dis- 
appear; and  in  two  or  three  days  at  most  the 
youngster  is  again  whole  and  hearty.  For 
children  respond  to  the  fasting  treatment  in 
marvelous  manner ;  their  natural  forces  have 
not  been  depleted  by  years  of  excess  in  phy- 
sical indulgence,  and  are  present  in  pristine 
vigor.  No  alarm  need  be  felt,  since  nature 
readjusts  the  little  system  most  rapidly,  and 
its  functions  at  once  resume  their  labors  re- 
si  i 


FASTING 

freshed  and  re-invigorated.  A  fast  until 
hunger  makes  its  demand  is  mandatory  in 
even  the  slightest  digestive  ailments  of  the 
smallest  of  babes;  and  a  comparison  of  this 
method  of  treatment  with  that  which  requires 
the  stomach  to  be  dosed  with  drugs,  and  the 
very  blood  itself  to  be  permeated  and  vitiated 
with  the  products  of  disease  in  lower  animals 
in  the  forms  of  virus  and  serum  needs  no 
commentary. 

Similarly  the  enema  may  be  given  to  the 
infant,  using,  of  course,  an  amount  of  fluid 
commensurate  to  the  size  of  the  infant  bowel, 
and,  if  judiciously  repeated,  the  colon  is 
flushed  of  its  poisonous  contents,  fever  sub- 
sides, delirium,  if  present,  ceases,  and  dis- 
ease vanishes.  The  enema  may  be  adminis- 
tered to  even  the  day-old  babe  with  beneficial 
results,  for  it  serves  to  clear  the  colon  from 
clogged  and  thickened  secretion,  and,  when 
feeding  has  begun,  especially  if  the  milk  of 
the  cow  or  prepared  foods  are  used,  the  prod- 
ucts of  their  imperfect  digestion  are  at  once 
removed.  The  ease  with  which  the  fretful, 
colicky  babe  may  be  relieved  by  the  careful 
use  of  the  internal  bath  is  a  matter  which 
every  mother  should  understand,  and  its  ap- 
plication at  judicious  intervals  during  in- 


R.  M.  Age  four  years.  Bronchial  pneumonia.  Troubled 
with  throat  all  her  life.  Fasted  five  days.  Three  months 
later  in  perfect  health.  Now  lives  on  a  vegetarian  diet, 
two  meals  daily. 


CHILDREN    IN    THE    FAST 

fancy  is  of  equal  importance  with  its  bi- 
weekly employment  in  adult  life. 

Whenever  in  a  young  child  the  slightest 
evidence  of  disease  makes  its  appearance, 
whether  in  the  form  of  nasal  discharge,  of 
constipation,  of  diarrhoea,  or  of  internal 
pain,  it  should  be  considered  as  ample  warn- 
ing of  loss  of  balance  between  nutrition  and 
waste.  Food  should  be  at  once  omitted,  the 
enema  administered,  and  treatment  continued 
until  equilibrium  is  restored.  If  this  method 
of  handling  the  situation  be  consistently  fol- 
lowed, no  need  will  occur  for  later  alarm  lest 
acute  disease  symptoms  or  morbid  organic 
structural  defects,  such  as  adenoid  growths 
and  enlarged  tonsils,  develop.  Care  at  this 
time  precludes  dependence  upon  the  knife  of 
the  surgeon  in  infancy  or  in  adolescence. 

Repeating  the  caution  expressed  in  the 
first  paragraph  of  the  present  chapter,  free- 
dom from  disease  in  infancy  and  develop- 
ment of  strong  resistive  qualities  in  adult  life 
are  dependent  upon  normal  feeding  in  child- 
hood. No  food  except  as  hunger  dictates. 
And,  further,  the  child  must  be  permitted, 
not  only  to  signify  its  need,  but  also,  after  it 
is  weaned  from  the  milk  of  the  mother,  to 
select  within  reason  the  kind  of  food  desired. 

913 


FASTING 


If  no  abnormal  craving  has  been  developed 
through  forced  feeding,  or  through  food 
other  than  mother's  milk,  taste  will  not  have 
been  vitiated,  and  in  its  wants  the  child  itself 
will  pursue  its  natural  inclination,  the  only 
law  upon  which  health  depends.  Hands  off ! 
Follow  nature!  Do  not  attempt  to  act  as 
her  guide! 

The  moment  that  disease  is  recognized  in 
its  true  character  as  a  natural  process  of  cure, 
the  real  and  only  specific  for  the  child,  as  for 
the  man,  is  discovered — rest  for  the  over- 
worked organs  of  the  body,  and  renewal  of 
those  functions  that  need  repair. 

NOTE 

DETAILS    OF    THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    THE 
ENEMA  TO  THE  INFANT !      IMPLEMENTS 

The  usual  fountain  syringe,  equipped  with 
convenient  shut-off  and  with  two  small-sized 
rectal  tips. 

A  low  chair,  admitting  of  holding  the  re- 
cumbent child  in  the  lap  at  a  height  slightly 
above  the  level  of  the  bowl  of  the  toilet. 

Two  pieces  of  rubber  sheeting,  each  one 
yard  in  length.  Throw  one  piece  over  the 
top  edge  of  the  raised  seat  of  the  toilet,  drap- 

214 


CHILDREN    IN    THE    FAST 

ing  it  so  as  to  receive  spatterings  or  forcibly 
ejected  discharges  from  the  bowel.  Place 
the  other  piece  of  sheeting  half  over  the  lap 
of  the  operator,  permitting  its  free  end  to 
cover  the  front  edge  of  the  toilet  bowl  with 
sufficient  length  dropping  over  the  edge  to 
convey  discharges  into  the  receptacle.  A 
folded  Turkish  towel  should  be  laid  over  the 
end  of  the  sheeting  on  the  lap  in  such  posi- 
tion as  to  raise  the  buttocks  of  the  child 
slightly  and  to  prevent  contact  with  the  sur- 
face of  the  sheeting. 

The  operator  should  sit  with  her  right  side 
next  to  the  bowl  of  the  toilet  with  the  infant 
lying  upon  its  back  across  the  knees. 

Care  must  be  taken  in  inserting  the  rubber 
tip  into  the  anus,  and  the  right  hand  of  the 
operator  should  hold  it  in  position  while  the 
water  is  flowing  through  the  tube.  Greasing 
the  tip  with  olive  oil  or  with  an  antiseptic 
lubricant  prevents  undue  irritation  of  the 
mucus  membrane  of  the  orifice.  The  flow 
may  be  regulated  by  the  shut-off  or  by  pinch- 
ing the  soft  rubber  tube  of  the  syringe  with 
the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  the  left  hand. 

In  small  children,  during  the  administra- 
tion of  the  full  contents  of  one  bag  of  water, 
it  is  not  necessary  to  remove  the  rectal  tip 

215 


FASTING 


from  the  anus,  since  the  liquid  form  of  the 
discharge  from  the  bowels  permits  ejection 
around  the  sides  of  the  tube  and  avoidance  is 
thus  made  of  repeated  insertion  with  conse- 
quent irritation.  After  the  exhaustion  of  the 
water  in  the  bag,  the  tip  should  be  withdrawn, 
and  the  extra  one  mentioned  in  the  equip- 
ment, unattached  to  the  hose,  should  be  in- 
troduced into  the  anus.  Through  it  subse- 
quent evacuation  will  occur  the  more  easily, 
since  the  constriction  of  the  muscle  of  the 
anus  is  by  this  means  overcome.  Neither  pipe 
should  be  inserted  at  greater  depth  than  two 
inches.  At  this  stage  of  the  operation  manip- 
ulation should  be  made  of  the  abdomen,  fol- 
lowing the  ascending  colon  on  the  right  side 
from  the  csecum  to  the  transverse  bowel,  then 
across  to  the  left  side  over  the  transverse  por- 
tion to  the  descending  colon,  and  down  the 
latter  to  a  position  corresponding  with  its 
extremity  and  outlet.  This  is  an  essential 
that  must  not  be  neglected,  since  it  assists 
peristaltic  action  and  hastens  evacuation. 
Never  less  than  six  or  eight  quarts  of  water 
should  be  used  in  giving  this  enema,  and,  if 
extreme  discoloration  in  discharge  still  per- 
sists, even  more  fluid  should  be  injected.  The 
value  of  the  internal  bath  depends  upon  the 

216 


CHILDREN    IN    THE    FAST 

thoroughness  with  which  easily-absorbed  fer- 
menting waste  is  removed  from  the  colon, 
and  this  condition  is  not  satisfied  until  the 
discharge  returns  comparatively  colorless. 


217  , 


CHAPTER  XV 


SEXUAL  DISEASE  AND  THE  FAST 


"Seldom  have  you  teen  one  continent  that  is  not 
abstinent." 

Hals*:  Golden  Remains. 


219 


CHAPTER  XV 

SEXUAL  DISEASE  AND  THE  FAST 

JUST  what  normal  sex  desire  in  both  male 
and  female  originally  signified  is  some- 
what difficult  to  define,  but  it  is  safe  to 
assume  that  primordial  sex  relations  were 
limited  to  the  purposes  of  procreation.  The 
ultimate  object  of  the  fast  is  discovered  in 
the  restoration  of  all  physiological  functions 
to  a  primary  condition,  and  this  is  effected 
not  only  with  respect  to  the  processes  of  di- 
gestion, assimilation,  and  elimination,  but  to 
that  of  the  sex  instinct  as  well.  While  the 
fast  is  in  progress,  sexual  desire,  whether 
formerly  active  to  excess  or  abeyant,  is 
brought  to  normal,  and  attention  to  diet  and 
to  right  living  in  the  future  finds  passion 
controlled  and  desire  subservient  in  all  senses 
to  the  will. 

In  the  female  during  the  fast  the  menses 
may  or  may  not  appear,  but,  after  the  fast  is 
completed,  the  monthly  discharge  may  miss 

221 


FASTING 


several  or  more  periods.  Its  temporary  ces- 
sation should  occasion  no  anxiety,  for  the 
menstrual  flow  is  at  all  times  a  waste  product, 
and,  in  pregnancy  and  after  the  menopause, 
its  disposal  is  accomplished  through  other 
channels.  However,  instances  have  been 
noted  in  which  the  menses  have  appeared, 
when  food  was  omitted,  at  irregular  intervals 
almost  viscid  in  consistency  and  very  offens- 
ive in  odor.  This  may  be  regarded  as  the  re- 
sult of  congestion  localized  in  ovaries  and 
uterus,  and  as  a  natural  cleansing  of  a  repro- 
ductive system  clogged  with  refuse. 

With  respect  to  the  menstrual  discharge, 
the  interesting  facts  are  to  be  observed  that 
it  is  of  regular  recurrence  during  the  bearing 
period  in  the  females  of  all  mammals ;  that  it 
is  barely  perceptible  in  some;  and  that  in 
none  is  it  so  profuse  in  quantity  as  in  woman. 
She  is  the  only  female  in  the  animal  kingdom 
that  is  compelled  to  undergo  a  monthly  in- 
convenience of  copious  flow  from  the  uterus ; 
yet  this  evidence  of  function  is  as  natural  as 
breathing,  but  because  of  perversion  in  habit, 
it  has  become  aggravated  in  excessive  degree. 
Profuse  discharge  is  the  penalty  attached  by 
nature  to  the  use  of  the  organs  of  reproduc- 
tion for  other  than  legitimate  purposes,  and 

222 


SEXUAL  DISEASE— THE  FAST 

it  is  a  perfect  demonstration  of  the  universal 
law  of  compensation. 

In  treating  disease  of  the  reproductive  sys- 
tem in  the  female,  the  fast  both  cleanses  and 
relaxes,  relieves  congestion  and  restores  tone. 
From  one  to  three  days'  abstinence  from  food 
will  correct  excessive  menstruation,  and, 
when  no  mechanical  defect  is  present,  relief 
is  obtained  within  twenty-four  hours  when 
the  flow  is  accompanied  with  pain.  In  this 
connection  attention  is  directed  to  the  use  of 
the  douche,  the  warm  bath,  and  the  enema, 
while  the  discharge  is  present.  Medical  opin- 
ion to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  all  of 
these  hygienic  accessories  are  not  only  help- 
ful, but  are  absolutely  essential  at  the  time 
of  the  monthly  period.  In  all  cases  thorough 
cleanliness  is  imperative  if  the  benefits  de- 
rived are  to  prove  permanent,  and  right  liv- 
ing in  after  time  is  a  necessary  condition  of 
continued  well-being. 

The  menopause,  or  change  of  life,  is  a 
period  dreaded  by  all  women.  There  is  never 
any  certainty  as  to  the  time  of  its  occurrence, 
nor  any  means  of  foretelling  the  character  of 
its  manifestations.  Treatment  by  the  fast 
demonstrates  that  the  menses  may  be  prop- 
erly regulated,  and  that  assurance  as  to  their 

223 


FASTING 


normal  recurrence  is  possible  when  right  liv- 
ing is  adhered  to.  Similarly  purification  of 
the  system  at  the  period  of  the  menopause  or 
before,  coupled  with  proper  diet  and  judi- 
cious exercise,  will  fc  permit  any  woman  to 
pass  through  this  experience  without  dis- 
tress, excessive  nervousness,  or  other  evil  con- 
sequences. 

The  object  of  the  fast  is  achieved  in  cleans- 
ing functional  energic  avenues  and  in  resting 
the  vital  organs  of  the  body.  By  virtue  of 
these  accomplishments  the  high  function  of 
reproduction  is  not  only  benefited,  but  is  also 
restored  almost  to  original  ease  in  gestation 
and  accouchement.  Ordinarily,  congested 
healthy  secretion  as  well  as  impurities  de- 
posited in  the  organs  of  reproduction  are 
eliminated  through  the  circulation;  but  even 
the  excessive  and  offensive  discharge  that 
sometimes  is  present  during  the  fast  may  be 
regarded  in  the  light  of  an  eliminative  prod- 
uct evacuated  on  the  line  of  least  resistance. 

In  fact,  unless  organic  defect  exist,  ever- 
present  female  troubles  are  unknown  to  na- 
ture when  her  dictates  are  accepted  and 
obeyed.  The  fast  and  subsequent  treatment 
result  in  a  set  of  healthy  muscles  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  organs  of  reproduction  and  in 

224 


SEXUAL  DISEASE— THE  FAST 

healthy  secretions  for  all  purposes  peculiar 
to  these  parts.  Judicious  general  exercise 
and  normal  nutrition  will  maintain  the  sus- 
taining ligaments  in  strength,  and  the  gen- 
erative system  cannot  fail  functionally  or 
structurally  if  normally  used. 

The  dress  of  woman  is  responsible  for 
some  of  her  sex  weaknesses,  and,  without  en- 
tering into  details,  it  is  well  to  call  attention 
to  the  garment  to  which  is  attributed  so  much 
of  female  woe.  The  corset  has  no  right  nor 
title  in  the  wardrobe  of  a  healthy,  normal 
woman.  Her  own  bones  and  muscles  shape 
her  form  as  intended  by  nature,  and  any 
woman,  not  distorted  in  framework,  may  at- 
tain perfection  of  figure  by  muscular  free- 
dom and  proper  exercise.  The  restriction  of 
a  healthy  muscle  causes  it  partially  to  lose  its 
functioning  ability,  and  habitual  restraint 
and  unnatural  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  muscles  of  the  trunk  result  in  local  con- 
gestion and  in  displacement  of  special  or- 
gans. Lungs,  liver,  and  intestines,  together 
with  the  organs  of  reproduction,  suffer  from 
the  constrictive  effects  of  the  corset,  and  lack 
of  nourishment,  due  to  restricted  circulation 
thus  produced,  causes  atrophy  of  muscular 
tissue,  since  the  latter  is  not  adequately  re- 

225 


FASTING 

built.  Energy  is  likewise  impeded  in  the 
process  of  liberation;  intestines,  unable  to 
function,  are  filled  with  food  rubbish;  and 
congestion,  inflammation,  auto-intoxication, 
and  sexual  decay  ensue.  The  corset  alone 
succeeds  in  producing  many  degenerate, 
breastless  women,  who  eventually  suffer  un- 
der the  surgeon's  knife;  who  cannot  fulfil 
the  natural  function  of  child-bearing;  and 
who,  if  they  by  accident  reproduce  their 
species,  are  unable  to  furnish  their  young 
with  natural  food. 

The  science  of  Osteopathy  has  not  as  yet 
recognized  the  ease  and  the  benefit  of  man- 
ipulation of  the  uterus  and  its  appendages,' 
and  it  is  only  now  and  then  that  an  osteo- 
pathic  physician  is  discovered  who,  upon  his 
own  initiative,  has  made  known  the  good  that 
accrues  by  transcending  prescribed  methods 
when  occasion  demands.  Fasting  will  relieve 
congestion,  while  manipulation  of  the  uterus 
and  the  ovaries  from  within  and  without,  and 
of  the  region  of  the  Fallopian  tubes,  assist- 
ing in  this  process,  will  also  mechanically  ad- 
just the  uterus,  and  will  give  tone  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  reproductive  apparatus  by  stim- 
ulating circulation. 

Sexual  disease  other  than  that  peculiar  to 

226 


SEXUAL  DISEASE— THE  FAST 

the  female  may  be  divided  into  that  which  is 
contracted  through  sexual  intercourse,  and 
that  which  results  from  lowered  nutrition  or 
is  transmitted  congenitally. 

The  first  class  is  represented  by  the  local 
symptoms  of  gonorrhoea  in  both  sexes,  of 
gleet,  stricture,  and  urethritis  in  the  male, 
of  leucorrhoea  and  displacement  of  the  womb 
in  the  female,  etc. 

The  second  class  is  represented  by  impo- 
tence in  the  male,  barrenness  in  the  female, 
and  the  various  degrees  of  the  blood  taint, 
syphilis,  in  both  sexes. 

In  discussing  the  problem  of  sexual  dis- 
order of  any  kind  and  its  cure,  it  is  necessary 
to  revert  to  the  primary  cause  of  disease,  low- 
ered nutrition  resulting  from  impairment  of 
the  digestive  process.  While  cleanliness  in 
the  female  will,  in  those  symptoms  that  are 
merely  local  in  character,  undoubtedly  min- 
imize the  chances  of  infection  by  contact,  the 
soil  in  which  the  germs  of  venereal  disease 
flourish  is  distinctly  an  eliminative  product 
embodied  in  the  fluids  of  the  reproductive 
tract.  The  bacillus  of  gonorrhoea,  for  in- 
stance, transferred  to  either  sex,  cannot  long 
exist  if  the  products  of  elimination  are  nor- 

227 


mal  in  quality,  and  if  cleanliness,  especially 
in  the  female,  is  properly  observed.  The 
former  condition  is  promptly  effected  by  the 
fast,  and  the  latter  is  a  matter  of  ordinary 
personal  care.  The  irritating  symptoms  of 
local  venereal  infection  yield  to  the  treatment 
in  few  days,  and  convalescence  brings  no  su- 
pervening annoyance,  as  expressed  in  ure- 
thral  stricture,  prostatic  congestion,  etc. 

The  taint  of  syphilis,  congenital  or  ac- 
quired, if  treated  before  its  characteristic  or- 
ganic lesions  have  developed,  is  eradicated 
with  equal  success,  but  with  somewhat  more 
difficulty,  since  this  disorder  is  deeply  seated, 
and,  affecting  the  composition  of  the  blood, 
partakes  of  the  nature  of  structural  defect 
in  vital  organs. 

Masturbation,  a  habit  of  more  widely  com- 
mon practice  in  both  sexes  than  is  generally 
believed,  may  have  its  origin  in  the  curiosity 
of  pubescence  stimulated  by  vicious  influ- 
ences. But  its  development  into  habitual 
form  requires  a  constitutional  derangement 
of  the  functions  of  nutrition,  and  the  vice  of 
self -abuse  is  purely  a  symptom,  not  a  cause 
of  disease.  Digestive  ferment,  occasioning 
excitement  of  the  nerve  centers  controlling 


298 


SEXUAL  DISEASE— THE  FAST 

the  genital  organs,  or  local  congestion  caused 
by  constriction  of  the  waist,  by  constipation, 
or  by  like  means,  are  the  active  stimulating 
agents  responsible  for  lascivious  dreams  and 
perverted  forms  of  sex  satisfaction. 

Disease  is  a  unity.  The  solitary  vice  is  but 
a  symptom,  and  the  fast,  applied  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  cause,  restores  morbidity  to 
health. 

In  connection  with  the  effects  of  the  fast 
and  of  diet  upon  sexual  development  and 
desire,  observation  establishes  the  fact  that 
children  fed  upon  a  non-flesh  regimen  pro- 
gress sexually  in  gradual,  normal  manner 
to  puberty,  and  exhibit  fewer  tendencies 
towards  sexual  abuse  or  perversion  than  do 
those  whose  diet  includes  the  various  flesh 
foods.  A  dietary  embodying  meat  is  far  more 
stimulating  than  one  purely  vegetable  in 
character,  for  the  reasons  adduced  in  pre- 
vious discussion. 

The  ideal  to  be  desired  in  all  life  is  that  of 
equilibrium.  Physical  existence  without  nor- 
mal sex  relation  is  an  unbalanced  state,  nor 
can  it  be  implied  that  this  natural  function, 
when  not  exercised,  is  changed  in  purpose 
and  acts  as  an  increment  to  intellect,  as  moral 
reformers  would  have  us  believe.  Far  from, 

229 


FASTING 


it,  since,  in  the  male,  the  propagating  secre- 
tion is  produced  only  as  it  is  discharged. 
And,  in  the  female,  monthly  production  and 
removal  of  the  ovum  indicates  renewal  of  fer- 
tile cells.  In  both  sexes  constant  exhaustion 
of  sex  secretion  undoubtedly  draws  upon 
nervous  energy  and  in  this  manner  affects 
brain  power,  but  the  reverse  cannot  be  true. 
If  so,  the  bulk  of  the  brains  of  the  world 
would  be  in  possession  of  continent  celibates. 
Sex  and  intellect  demand  impartial  exercise, 
the  former  for  procreation  only,  the  latter 
for  physical  control  and  spiritual  advance. 


180 


CHAPTER  XVI 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  CONDUCTING  THE  FAiT 


"Tatks  in  hours  of  insight  milled 

May  be,  through  hours  of  gloom,  fulfilled." 


Edwin  Arnold. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

DIFFICULTIES  IN  CONDUCTING  THE  FAST 

THE  very  simplicity  of  the  fast  in  its 
application  has  proved  the  most  serious 
obstacle  to  its  general  acceptance  by 
both  the  public  and  the  medical  profession. 
Popular  writers  have  lauded  its  claims  in 
newspaper  and  in  magazine.  Books  have 
been  written  upon  it  in  the  enthusiasm  pro- 
duced by  the  beneficial  effects  of  personal 
trial,  and  cures  by  fasting  have  been  heralded 
the  world  over.  The  consequences  are  what 
might  have  been  foreseen.  Regardless  of  the 
physiology  of  the  human  body  and  the  ra- 
tionale of  the  method,  and  ignorant  of  the 
physiological  changes  that  the  administration 
of  the  fast  must  involve  both  in  function  and 
in  tissue  structure,  inexperienced  hands  have 
undertaken  the  treatment  without  guidance 
or  the  necessary  knowledge  of  the  conditions 
that  may  develop,  and,  in  many  instances, 
harm  with  unmerited  adverse  criticism  of  the 
method  has  resulted. 

238 


FASTING 

If  human  bodies  continued  to  exist 
throughout  life  in  the  normal  state  they 
should  possess  at  birth,  when  functional  dis- 
ease appeared  the  application  of  the  fast 
would  prove  perfectly  easy  in  all  cases.  But, 
through  constant  wrong  living,  through 
chronic  abuse  of  the  vital  processes,  and, 
more  than  all  else,  through  the  paralyzing 
effects  of  drug  dosage,  the  average  man  has 
acquired  defects  in  organic  structure. 

In  infancy,  when  disease  develops,  a  drug 
is  given  for  the  suppression  of  the  symptom. 
In  some  cases  the  children  die ;  in  others,  the 
paralysis,  the  functional  ruin,  of  some  por- 
tion of  the  intestinal  tract  or  other  organ  is 
caused;  in  still  others,  the  resistive  powers 
of  the  infant  are  such  as  to  permit  it  to  sur- 
vive despite  the  dose.  In  any  event  no  true 
benefit  has  been  derived,  and,  since  the  harm 
was  done  during  the  growing  state,  retarda- 
tion of  development  occurs,  and,  in  future 
years,  disease  symptoms  may  be  traced  di- 
rectly to  the  points  affected  in  infancy. 
With  functional  troubles  continually  recur- 
ring, these  deficiencies  in  organism  finally 
cause  almost  absolute  cessation  of  the  proc- 
esses of  elimination. 

Careful  observation  of  several  thonsands 

334 


DIFFICULTIES  MET  IN  FASTING 

of  fasting  cases  makes  plain  the  fact  that  the 
fast  will  perfectly  relieve  all  ailments  of  a 
functional  character,  but  that  it  can  never 
wholly  overcome  mechanical  defects  in  body 
organism.  However,  the  fast  will  uncover 
the  organic  condition  of  the  system,  and  will 
cause  the  nature  of  its  deficiencies  to  be 
clearly  displayed.  One  whose  organs  are 
functionally  equal  to  the  requirements  of 
elimination  undergoes  the  treatment  with  no 
unusual  symptoms.  But,  when  severe  and 
distressing  manifestations  arise  during  the 
period  of  abstinence  from  food,  it  is  virtu- 
ally certain  that  defects  in  organism  lie 
within.  Post  mortem  examination  of  the 
bodies  of  patients  who  have  died  while  the 
fast  was  in  progress  gives  proof  to  this  all- 
important  point,  and,  in  these  cases,  it  was 
further  demonstrated  that  death  would  have 
occurred,  fasting  or  feeding. 

A  drug,  with  regard  to  its  effects  upon  the 
human  body,  may  be  said  to  be  any  substance 
which  will  influence  metabolism  and  the  func- 
tioning of  the  organs.  According  to  this 
definition,  foods,  especially  when  of  unwhole- 
some quality,  even  though  the  quantity  be 
reasonable,  may  react  as  a  drug  upon  the 
system.  Food  itself,  like  substances  regarded 

235 


FASTING 


as  drugs  in  the  ordinary  sense,  may  then  act 
as  a  poison  to  the  tissue.  In  like  manner  the 
substances  formed  in  the  body  from  the  proc- 
esses of  tissue  waste  may  themselves  act  as 
drugs  in  their  effect  upon  living  tissue.  This 
occurs  when  elimination  is  inadequate. 
Hence  the  auto-toxins,  through  which  tissue 
resistance,  i.  e.,  immunity  from  disease,  is  re- 
duced, and  the  way  opened  for  the  large 
group  of  so-called  infectious  maladies. 

It  cannot  fairly  be  assumed  that,  upon 
viewing  a  body  after  death  in  the  fast,  the 
lesions  that  may  be  present  in  any  organ  are 
due  solely  to  previous  drugging.  Where  two 
such  agencies  as  disease  and  drugs  have  been 
simultaneously  acting  upon  a  patient,  it  is 
difficult,  in  the  absence  of  criteria,  to  decide 
whether  a  specific  result  is  due  to  one  or  to 
the  other,  or  to  both.  But  it  is  a  significant 
fact  that,  in  every  instance  of  death  that  has 
occurred  in  the  fast,  as  covered  by  the  writer's 
experience,  each  of  the  subjects  with  but  a 
single  exception,  had  been  drugged  in  early 
life,  and  that  the  effects  upon  organs,  as 
shown  in  lack  of  development,  were  such  as 
would  have  resulted  from  impeded  nerve  ac- 
tion caused  by  an  active  poison ;  and  the  pre- 
ponderance of  evidence  gathered  in  these 
m 


DIFFICULTIES  MET  IN  FASTING 

post  mortem  findings  lies  on  the  side  of  drug 
paralysis. 

The  constant  use  of  drugs  to  suppress  dis- 
ease symptoms  in  the  growing  child,  not  only 
lowers  physical  resistance,  but  also  retards 
the  development  of  its  organs,  in  whole  or  in 
part,  while  bony  framework  and  tissue-struc- 
ture continue  to  advance  to  normal  adult  di- 
mension. The  disparity  presented  by  organs 
of  infantile  size  enclosed  in  a  body  fully  ma- 
tured is  bound  to  cause  severe  forms  of  func- 
tional trouble  that  will  end  in  chronic  dis- 
ease, since  the  undersized  organs  are  not 
equal  to  the  demands  made  upon  them.  The 
function  that  is  predominant  while  the  fast 
is  hi  progress  is  that  of  elimination,  and  it  is 
easy  to  understand  that,  in  a  body  in  which 
portions  of  the  intestinal  tract  are  under  di- 
mension, or  in  which  one  or  other  of  the  vital 
organs  is  mechanically  imperfect,  the  work 
of  ridding  the  system  of  accumulated  poison 
is  beyond  the  power  of  the  organism  to  ac- 
complish. As  a  consequence,  to  the  degree 
in  which  organic  defects  exist,  is  determined 
the  severity  of  the  struggle  with  disease,  to 
use  orthodox  phraseology.  In  natural  terms, 
the  effort  which  is  being  made  to  cast  out 
gathered  impurity  is  made  proportionately 


FASTING 


more  difficult  when  organic  imperfections  ex- 
ist. In  the  adult  body,  chronic  functional 
disease  or  drugs  may  produce  like  effects, 
but  here  the  organs  concerned  are  fully  de- 
veloped, and  the  results  are  shown,  not  in 
arrested  development,  but  in  lesions,  or  in 
growths. 

Whenever,  in  the  fast  or  otherwise,  because 
of  organs  undeveloped  or  functionally  par- 
alyzed, the  products  of  elimination  cannot  be 
evacuated  through  natural  channels,  reab- 
sorption  of  waste  occurs,  and  the  result  is 
displayed  in  a  general  poisoning  of  the  blood 
supply.  This  condition  is  known  as  auto-  in- 
toxication, or,  as  expressed  before,  the  body 
is  poisoned  by  its  own  decomposition.  This 
state  gives  rise  in  the  subject  to  manifesta- 
tions that  may  become  alarming.  The  brain 
is  affected  to  the  extent  of  mild  delirium, 
hiccoughs  appear,  or  the  patient  may  sink 
into  stupor.  Mechanical  means  of  relief  in 
the  forms  of  the  enema  and  of  general  mas- 
sage of  the  body  must  be  resorted  to  and 
plied  to  the  utmost  in  connection  with  hot 
applications  to  the  spine  and  abdomen.  In 
cases  not  under  careful  and  experienced 
guidance  the  situation  related  will  assuredly 
prove  disastrous,  and  herein  lies  one  of  the 

238 


dangers  of  inadvised  and  promiscuous  fast- 
ing at  unintelligent  hands. 

The  fast  cannot  cure  disease  in  a  body  or- 
ganically imperfect,  but  the  natural  phy- 
sician may  direct  its  use  for  short  periods  in 
such  manner  as  to  ameloriate  existing  condi- 
tions and  to  restore  the  patient  to  compara- 
tive health.  The  real  state  of  the  body  or- 
ganism is  so  perfectly  uncovered  by  abstain- 
ing from  food  that  the  individual  thereafter 
is  enabled  to  live  within  the  limitations  of  his 
organs.  When  the  presence  of  organic  de- 
fects of  more  than  ordinary  seriousness  has 
been  determined,  the  protracted  fast  is  most 
inadvisable,  for,  in  this  event,  it  is  certain 
that  the  avenues  of  elimination  will  prove  in- 
adequate to  exacted  demands. 

The  intoxication  that  results  from  absorp- 
tion of  eliminative  products  has  been  said 
to  cause  delirium  sometimes.  This  condition, 
present  in  the  fast  at  times,  gives  rise  to  the 
contention  that  protracted  abstinence  from 
food  occasions  insanity  in  the  patient.  Noth- 
ing can  be  further  from  the  truth,  for,  when 
elimination  is  successfully  accomplished, 
mentality  is  at  its  highest;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  cases  of  mental  aberration  due  to  auto- 

939 


FASTING 

intoxication  from  overfeeding  are  speedily 
restored  when  food  is  denied.  In  fact,  auto- 
intoxication takes  place  more  often  when 
feeding  than  when  fasting,  and  the  overfed 
body  produces  poisons  the  effects  of  which 
upon  mentality  are  more  dread  and  more 
lasting  than  those  of  alcohol  itself. 

The  sole  explanation  of  the  presence  of 
toxins  in  the  human  body  lies  in  the  inability 
of  the  eliminative  organs  to  function.  They 
cannot  dispose  of  the  refuse  in  quantity  to 
balance  intake.  In  the  fast,  when  difficulty 
is  encountered  in  this  respect,  lack  of  func- 
tional power  is  indicated,  and  this  is  due  in 
most  instances  to  congenital  organic  defect 
or  to  early  drug  paralysis. 

The  physician  who  has  had  long  experi- 
ence in  handling  disease  as  a  unity  is  not  con- 
cerned in  any  sense  with  the  presence  or  ab- 
sence of  the  various  toxins,  nor  by  the  symp- 
toms in  evidence,  except  as  indices  of  the 
state  of  functioning  of  the  internal  organs. 
If  these  organs  are  in  normal  condition, 
excess  food  may  interfere  with  function 
through  congestion.  But  the  vital  parts  of 
the  human  body  are  in  many  instances  drug- 
paralyzed  or  food-stimulated,  and,  medically 
speaking,  they  are  brought  into  action  by  the 

940 


DIFFICULTIES  MET  IN  FASTING 

administration  of  additional  drugs  or  by  fur- 
ther food-stimulus.  Elimination  can  then 
take  place  only  abnormally,  with,  in  all  cases, 
but  partial  evacuation  of  body  waste.  In 
the  natural  treatment  of  disease,  the  char- 
acter of  the  toxin  need  not  be  considered,  save 
in  so  far  as  it  is  an  indication  of  the  severity 
of  disease,  while  the  thought  paramount  deals 
with  the  condition  of  the  organs  rather  than 
with  the  nature  of  the  circulating  poison. 

The  statement  is  often  made  that  the  fast- 
ing patient  subsists  upon  his  own  body  while 
food  is  denied.  This  is  absurd,  for  the  domi- 
nant process  in  action  at  this  time  is  that  of 
elimination  of  waste,  which  at  no  point  was 
available  for  repair  of  tissue,  and  which, 
stored  throughout  the  system,  acted  only  as 
an  obstacle  in  the  avenues  of  vitality.  This 
is  so  even  of  that  part  of  the  refuse  that  had 
entered  into  cell  composition,  since  the  pres- 
ence of  disease  has  made  apparent  the  fact 
that  this  matter  has  been  rendered  harmful 
by  decomposition  through  delay  or  arrest  of 
elimination.  The  diminution  in  weight  of 
the  body  during  a  fast  is  due  to  the  removal 
of  waste,  and  the  change  in  cell  life  that  is 
taking  place  must  be  continued  until  naught 
but  healthy  tissue  and  tissue  nourishment  re- 

241 


FASTING 


main.  The  new  body  thus  created  is  then 
ready  for  the  process  of  rebuilding  upon  nor- 
mal lines. 

The  differentiation  between  starvation 
and  fasting  is  made  upon  the  basis  that  starv- 
ation is  the  consequence  of  food  denied,  either 
by  accident  or  design,  to  a  system  clamoring 
for  sustenance,  and  that  fasting  consists  in 
intentional  abstinence  from  food  by  a  system 
diseased  and,  as  a  result,  non-desirous  of 
sustenance  until  rested,  cleansed,  and  again 
ready  for  the  labor  of  digestion.  This  might 
be  admitted  and  yet  not  alter  the  fact  that 
the  processes  in  operation  are  largely  ident- 
ical. But  it  has  been  observed  that  the  hu- 
man body  carries  a  reserve  store  of  nerve  sus- 
tenance, both  in  health  and  in  disease ;  hence, 
the  process  of  fasting,  undertaken  only  when 
disease  is  in  evidence,  is  not  at  all  analogous 
to  that  of  starvation,  which  can  occur  only 
when  the  supply  of  nerve  sustenance  is  ex- 
hausted, or,  when,  as  is  the  case  in  instances 
of  overfeeding  and  mal-assimilation,  the 
brain  is  prevented  from  utilizing  its  stored 
nourishment  through  obstructed  channels  of 
supply.  The  patient  may  starve,  though 
well-fed;  and  in  applying  the  fast,  keeping 
the  distinction  as  stated  in  mind,  starvation 

242 


begins  when  the  fast  ends,  or  at  the  return  of 
hunger. 

The  points  of  difficulty  related  heretofore 
are  in  a  sense  technical  in  character,  but 
there  are  objections,  that  at  times  develop 
into  obstacles,  that  embody  personal  opinion 
and  prejudice.  In  bygone  days,  when  medi- 
cine failed  to  relieve,  the  sufferer  was  left 
without  hope,  and  friends  and  family  pre- 
pared for  the  inevitable.  Thoughtful  minds, 
still  in  the  minority,  unbiased  by  tradition, 
have  to-day  reverted  to  nature  for  help  in 
physical  distress,  and  the  natural  school  of 
treatment  has  at  last  secured  itself  upon 
firm  foundations.  In  applying  the  fast  and 
other  natural  means  of  cure,  the  tendency 
of  tradition-bound  intellect  is  at  first  to  re- 
gard these  methods  as  inefficacious  because 
of  the  absence  of  nostrum,  pill,  and  plaster. 
Nothing  seems  in  process  of  action.  The 
silent  and  hidden  ways  of  nature,  needing  no 
bolus,  cannot  yet  efface  impressions  trans- 
mitted through  centuries  of  inherited  belief 
in  remedies  for  the  suppression  of  symptoms. 
Complete  revolution  of  this  idea  cannot  be 
hoped  for  until  education  on  broader  lines 
gives  universal  independence  of  thought. 

While  fasting  has  been  known  for  ages 

243 


FASTING 


past  as  a  preventive  and  a  cure  for  disease, 
its  therapeutic  possibilities  have  never  hereto- 
fore been  scientifically  applied.  Hence  it 
results  that  modern  employment  of  the 
method  places  the  practitioner  in  such  posi- 
tion that  no  authorities  can  be  consulted,  and 
no  personal  guidance  or  advice  can  be  turned 
to  for  aid  in  times  of  stress.  Early  years  of 
practice  in  these  circumstances  often  de- 
veloped cases  in  which  the  patient  seemingly 
declined  to  the  point  of  death.  Family  and 
friends  at  once  condemned  the  physician  and 
the  treatment,  and  a  howling  public  stood 
waiting  to  cry,  "starvation,"  It  mattered 
not  that  the  patient  had  been  given  up  to  die 
by  orthodoxy,  nor  that  the  fast  had  been 
sought  as  a  last  resort.  Oftentimes  only  the 
sufferer  himself  was  in  sympathy  with  the 
method,  and  his  condition  was  aggravated  to 
the  last  degree  by  opposition. 

A  state  of  affairs  such  as  described  in- 
duces in  a  conscientious  mind  intense  concen- 
tration on  the  work  in  progress.  No  point 
that  may  conduce  to  favorable  issue  is  over- 
looked; no  natural  law  or  accessory  is  per- 
mitted to  remain  without  investigation. 
Merely  selfish  considerations  might  here 
prove  motives  sufficient  for  earnest  en- 


DIFFICULTIES  MET  IN  FASTING 

deavor — the  desire  for  success,  the  hope  of 
triumphing  over  other  schools.  But  a 
broader,  deeper  feeling  will  actuate  the  true 
student  of  nature.  In  him  a  perfect  under- 
standing of  the  law  of  cause  and  effect — the 
giving  of  a  truth  to  the  world,  the  relief  of 
physical  suffering — are  the  stimuli  that 
bring  success  to  his  work  and  cause  him  to 
surmount  the  obstacles  in  his  way. 

The  first  discovery  of  the  efficacy  of  the  fast 
in  functional  disease  was  rapidly  followed 
by  a  knowledge  of  its  value  as  a  diagnostic 
agent.  The  method  never  fails  to  uncover 
every  weak  point  in  a  diseased  body,  to  re- 
veal the  exact  location  of  organic  distress  or 
defect.  Then  came  the  value  of  proper  ap- 
proach to  abstinence  through  gradual  dimin- 
ution of  intake,  thus  insuring  systemic  ac- 
comodation  to  the  physiological  change  in- 
volved, and  permitting  elimination  naturally 
to  dominate  the  functions.  Here,  too,  the 
enema  and  the  bath  proved  of  greatest  as- 
sistance in  disposing  of  eliminative  products. 

As  elimination  proceeds,  the  observer  is 
permitted  to  greater  or  less  extent  to  deter- 
mine the  condition  of  function  of  the  various 
organs,  and,  if  mechanical  or  structural  de- 
fect is  present,  it  is  certain  to  be  detected. 
MS 


FASTING 


The  process  of  gradual  lessening  of  food 
supply,  in  all  save  acute  disease,  is  the  normal 
rational  method  to  follow — first,  for  the 
physical  reasons  given,  and  second,  because 
of  ignorant  opposition  on  the  part  of  the 
public  and  the  medical  profession.  Ample 
time  is  thus  given  to  discover  what  is  pos- 
sible under  a  diet,  and  the  necessity  of  con- 
tinuing the  treatment  by  a  fast  is  fortified 
by  the  knowledge  thus  obtained. 

When  merely  functional  disease  is  in  ques- 
tion, the  case  in  treatment  is  simplicity  itself, 
unless  dissipation,  excessive  nervous  expendi- 
ture, or  serious  blood  taint,  has  largely  pro- 
hibited vital  expression.  Patients  of  this 
class  are  ordinarily  able  to  care  for  them- 
selves throughout  a  fast  of  average  length. 

Whenever  organic  disease  exists,  whether 
in  the  form  given  in  Class  2,  or  that  in  Class 
3  in  previous  discussion  (page  87),  unpleas- 
ant symptoms  are  bound  to  arise.  And  at 
times  all  the  courage  and  the  wisdom  of  long 
experience  in  handling  disease  by  the  method 
of  nature  are  needed  to  meet  the  conditions. 
Knowledge  of  the  causes  of  delirium,  of 
stupor,  of  any  and  all  of  the  symptoms  of 
toxic  poisoning,  none  of  which  can  be  wholly 
overcome  in  extreme  organic  disease,  makes 

246 


DIFFICULTIES  MET  IN  FASTING 

faith  in  the  method  unshakable.  When 
death  occurs,  it  is  inevitable;  it  cannot  come 
except  when  it  is  not  possible  for  the  vital 
organs  to  function  longer.  The  life  of  the 
patient  is  extended  through  abstinence  from 
food,  since  organic  effort  is  thereby  greatly 
reduced. 

In  the  event  that  grave  organic  defects 
exist  in  a  patient,  signs,  more  or  less  determi- 
nant, are  expressed  in  both  the  time  of  prep- 
aration and  in  the  early  days  of  the  fast. 
Serious  symptoms  do  not  usually  appear  be- 
fore the  third  week  of  abstinence.  And  then 
these  demonstrations  may  assume  any  of  the 
forms  of  .weakness,  even  to  loss  of  mental 
control.  In  the  writer's  own  experience, 
four  cases  are  noted  in  which  at  this 
period  violent  delirium,  several  days  in  dura- 
tion, occurred.  Two  other  patients  were  for 
longer  time  mildly  delirious.  But  all,  even 
those  in  whom  death  intervened,  emergecj 
from  the  mental  cloud  and  continued  to  dis- 
solution or  to  recovery  with  perfectly  clear 
mentality.  It  is  in  cases  such  as  these  that 
human  helplessness  is  most  apparent,  and 
here  the  lesson  is  learned  that  man  must  co- 
operate with  nature  and  follow  her  laws. 

In  examining  a  body  diseased  it  is  possi- 

247 


FASTING 


ble  to  locate  by  palpation,  or  feeling  with  the 
hand,  the  lower  bowel  throughout  its  extent, 
by  using  a  copious  enema  after  the  intestine 
has  been  flushed  of  its  contents.  Filling  the 
colon  with  water  rounds  it  out,  and  its  form 
and  position  can  then  readily  be  discovered 
through  the  walls  of  the  abdomen.  In  all 
cases  where  extreme  mental  disturbance  was 
noted,  the  transverse  portion  of  the  lower 
bowel  had  failed  from  its  normal  position  to 
the  region  of  the  bladder.  In  this  situation 
the  contents  of  the  small  intestine,  when  dis- 
charged into  the  caecum,  were  incapable  of 
rapid  evacuation,  even  with  the  assistance  of 
the  enema,  and  brain  congestion  followed  the 
extreme  condition  of  auto-intoxication  pro- 
duced by  the  absorption  of  the  ferment  thus 
created.  It  has  been  dwelt  upon  in  the  chap- 
ter on  mental  and  bodily  reaction  that 
physical  disease  induces  mental  disturbance. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  many  inmates  of 
asylums  are  curable  through  the  relief  of 
conditions  identical  with  those  here  described. 
A  regular  physician,  prominent  as  an  expert 
on  insanity,  recently  made  the  following  pub- 
lished statement:  "For  the  checking  of  in- 
sanity, the  crying  need  is  a  study  of  the 
causes  of  the  malady  with  a  view  to  its  pre- 
348 


DIFFICULTIES  MET  IN  FASTING 

vention.  Nine-tenths  of  the  inmates  of  our 
insane  asylums  are  incurable,  according  to 
our  present  knowledge.  What  an  argument 
for  the  prevention  of  the  disease!" 

Other  instances  where  organic  develop- 
ment of  the  small  intestines  has  been  arrested 
in  early  life  through  disease  and  drugs,  give 
rise  to  unpleasant  symptoms  and  require 
most  careful  attention,  not  only  in  the  fast, 
but  in  the  after  period  of  dieting.  These 
cases  never  occasion  mental  crises,  however. 
The  latter  are  uniformly  confined  to  in- 
stances such  as  cited  above. 

As  has  been  said,  fear,  the  dread  of  death 
by  starvation,  calls  down  upon  the  fasting 
patient,  despite  the  courage  of  his  convic- 
tions, the  torture  that  follows  acts  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  wishes  of  affection.  And,  often, 
in  sheer  hopelessness  of  family  cooperation, 
and  in  spite  of  personal  faith  and  benefit, 
the  fast  is  abandoned  and  drugs  are  again 
resumed. 

In  the  fast  there  can  be  no  danger  of 
starvation.  The  great  safeguard  of  all  life 
is  hunger — true  hunger — not  appetite.  And, 
when  the  process  of  purification  is  complete, 
hunger  returns  and  food  must  be  supplied. 

Skill  in  the  treatment  of  disease  by  natural 

249 


FASTING 

methods  cannot  be  acquired  from  books,  for 
there  are  none  in  print  as  yet  with  detail 
sufficient  to  cover  all  points.  Years  of  ex- 
perience in  applying  the  method  to  ailing 
bodies  alone  can  give  the  knowledge  neces- 
sary for  overcoming  the  difficulties  that  may 
and  do  arise.  And  constant  practice  and  ob- 
servation of  the  phenomena  of  the  fast  con- 
vincingly establish  that  the  beginnings  of 
disease  lie  at  the  threshold  of  digestion.  Its 
seeds  are  sown  in  the  mouth,  while  stomach 
and  intestines,  injured  by  food  improperly 
masticated,  and  worked  beyond  limit  by  over- 
supply,  continue  and  conserve  their  propaga- 
tion. Impaired  digestion  and  impure  blood 
are  cause  and  effect. 

It  cannot  be  too  strongly  borne  in  mind 
that  fasting  in  itself  is  but  a  means  to  an 
end,  a  cleansing  and  resting  process  that  pre- 
pares the  human  body  for  right  living  in 
future  time.  A  cure  cannot  be  accomplished 
until  the  individual,  cooperating  with  na- 
ture, completes  what  the  fast  began. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
CURES  BY  FASTING 

"There  is  no  chance  in  results." 

Ralph  Waldo  Emerson. 


351 


CHAPTER  XVII 

CURES  BY  FASTING 

THE  cases  dealt  with  in  the  following 
chapter  are  typical  but  not  exhaustive. 
They  are  selected  from  a  large  num- 
ber solely  because  of  their  representative 
character,  and  as  evidence  that  the  fast 
reaches  indiscriminately  but  in  like  manner 
all  phases  of  the  functional  bodily  ills,  and 
all  organic  disease  that  is  not  beyond  repair. 
In  the  first  instance  the  patient  was  afflict- 
ed with  the  disease  symptom  known  as  in- 
flammatory rheumatism.  When  first  seen, 
the  boy,  for  he  was  but  seventeen  years  of 
age,  was  in  a  precarious  condition.  The  case 
had  been  given  up  by  the  medical  adviser  as 
hopeless,  and  a  limit  of  twenty-four  hours 
had  been  set  within  which  death  must  occur. 
In  the  opinion  of  the  physician  the  only  thing 
that  could  be  done  was  to  alleviate  the  ex- 
cruciating pain  with  opiates,  thus  permitting 
dissolution  to  take  place  while  the  youth  was 
unconscious  from  their  influence.  The  dis- 

253 


FASTING 

tracted  family,  as  a  last  resort,  turned  to  the 
fasting  method  of  treatment,  and  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  condition  of  the  young  man  will 
perhaps  throw  stronger  light  upon  the  con- 
trast that  is  drawn  between  the  methods  of 
nature  and  those  of  man. 

The  boy  had  been  in  bed  for  five  weeks ;  his 
body  displayed  all  of  the  evidences  of  disease 
and  of  the  remedies  that  had  been  applied. 
His  left  arm,  wrist,  and  hand  were  greatly 
swollen  and  painful,  as  were  also  both  knees 
and  ankles.  The  face  was  flushed,  the  breath- 
ing stertorous,  the  pulse  fluttering  and  irre- 
gular, while  the  body  temperature  was  105 
degrees.  In  all  respects  the  working  foun- 
dation was  insecure,  and  the  preceding  weeks 
of  medical  treatment  had  been  worse  than 
wasted  from  the  standpoint  of  the  natural. 
For  two  of  these  weeks  the  heart  action  had 
been  stimulated  with  digitalis  and  strych- 
nine; food  had  been  forced  upon  an  unwill- 
ing stomach  as  many  times  daily  as  the  pa- 
tient could  be  induced  to  swallow;  and,  when 
pain  had  become  too  great  to  be  borne,  or, 
when  delirium  intervened,  codein  and  other 
opiates  had  been  used  unsparingly.  In  addi- 
tion, within  seven  days  before  change  of 
treatment  occurred,  two  quarts  of  brandy 

254, 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

had  been  poured  into  this  copiously  drugged 
interior.  As  a  result  of  drugs  and  of  dis- 
ease, the  boy  could  neither  lie  down  nor  sit 
up,  and  his  position  was  a  painful  compro- 
mise. 

Death  seemed  imminent,  but  food  was  at 
once  withheld,  every  trace  of  drugs  was  re- 
moved, and  a  slight  massage  treatment  was 
administered  in  order  to  equalize  the  circula- 
tion as  much  as  was  possible  in  the  circum- 
stances. At  the  end  of  a  half  hour  a  warm 
water  enema  brought  away  a  large  quantity 
of  fecal  matter  from  the  colon,  and,  after 
this  local  treatment  pulse  and  temperature 
showed  decided  downward  tendencies,  while 
the  patient  was  resting  more  quietly  and 
easily  than  he  had  in  a  week. 

In  acute  cases,  such  as  this,  drastic  meas- 
ures are  imperative,  and  on  the  second  day 
vigorous  application  of  massage  and  enema 
once  more  brought  temperature  and  pulse  to 
lower  register;  consciousness  returned;  the 
swelling  in  the  arm  was  reduced;  and  the 
pain  had  abated.  In  one  week's  time  the 
young  man  was  able  to  lie  at  full  length  in 
bed,  and  the  swelling,  except  in  the  ankles, 
was  scarcely  perceptible.  Natural  sleep  had 
returned  ere  this,  and  temperature  and  pulse 

255 


FASTING 


were  but  slightly  above  normal.  During  this 
interval  two  enemas  daily  had  been  administ- 
ered and  masses  of  impacted  f  eces  had  been 
removed  on  each  occasion.  Bathing  of  the 
body  twice  each  day  had  relieved  discomfort, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  first  week  tub-baths 
were  begun  and  proved  of  great  assistance  in 
the  final  reduction  of  filthy  internal  condi- 
tion by  aiding  and  increasing  elimination. 

The  fast  was  broken  on  the  eleventh  day 
with  a  small  quantity  of  tomato  broth  fed 
morning  and  night,  and  the  amount  of  food 
was  increased  as  the  patient  became  able  to 
take  care  of  additional  supply.  Five  weeks 
from  the  day  of  the  beginning  of  treatment, 
the  youth  was  enjoying  a  walk  of  several 
miles  daily,  and,  after  its  discontinuance,  he 
adhered  strictly  to  the  diet  and  exercise  pre- 
scribed and  rapidly  developed  a  healthy  and 
robust  physique. 

The  second  case,  a  man  61  years  of  age, 
was  stricken  with  paralysis  of  the  entire  right 
side,  and,  after  vain  search  within  the  domain 
of  medicine,  began  preparation  for  a  com- 
plete fast.  The  preparatory  period  covered 
but  ten  days,  a  time  too  short  to  accomplish 
wholly  satisfactory  results,  but  at  its  com- 
pletion a  fast  of  forty  days,  which  proved 

256 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

eminently  successful  in  its  final  outcome,  was 
undertaken.  Paralysis,  as  is  well  understood, 
is  caused  directly  by  blood  coagulation  in  spe- 
cific localities  of  the  brain  tissue.  But  one 
course  can  be  recommended — to  rely  upon 
natural  processes  to  absorb  the  clot,  thus  re- 
moving pressure  and  releasing  nerve  force. 
Constant  accumulation  of  food  material  in 
such  circumstances  simply  prolongs  condi- 
tions that  encourage  excessive  density  of  the 
blood,  but  the  fast,  without  argument, 
through  rest  and  elimination,  causes  natural 
assistance  to  be  utilized  in  removing  obstruc- 
tion to  the  passage  of  nerve  force  through 
nerve  channels. 

The  history  of  the  case  was  such  as  will  be 
found  in  every  instance  when  apoplectic  con- 
ditions are  present  in  any  individual.  The 
patient  referred  to  weighed  at  the  time  of 
seizure  214  pounds.  Each  day  of  abstinence 
testified  to  a  loss  in  avoirdupois,  and,  at  the 
end  of  the  fast,  the  latter  had  been  reduced 
to  174  pounds.  Bile  in  abundance  was  dis- 
charged with  the  enemas,  and  at  intervals 
vomiting  of  the  same  fluid  occurred.  The 
fast  was  broken  by  the  administration  of 
grape- juice  and  that  of  oranges.  Within  a 
few  days  food  more  solid  was  ingested.  It 

257 


FASTING 


is  as  well  to  quote  from  a  personal  letter 
dated  after  recovery  for  the  subsequent  his- 
tory of  the  case. 

The  letter  reads:  "I  was  totally  incapa- 
citated from  actual  manual  labor  of  any  kind 
before  my  fast,  and  I  lived  in  dread  of  a 
second  stroke,  with  a  strange,  unnatural  de- 
pression evident  upon  slight  over-exertion. 
Great  drowsiness  affected  me,  and  on  occa- 
sions I  would  sleep  thirty  to  thirty -six  hours, 
almost  without  intermission.  My  mentality 
was  impaired,  my  eyesight  defective,  and  my 
speech  impeded.  My  right  hand  and  arm 
were  clumsy  and  weak,  and  at  this  stage  all 
ordinary  human  aid  seemed  powerless. 

"I  began  the  fast,  and,  contrary  to  my  ex- 
pectations, I  had  no  hunger  from  the  third 
day  to  the  fortieth.  To  affirm  that  there  was 
no  inconvenience,  however,  would  be  untrue, 
for  by  every  avenue  of  elimination  most  of- 
fensive impurities  were  thrown  off,  and  at 
times  these  could  not  have  been  borne  had 
the  object  been  lost  sight  of.  My  weight, 
before  I  undertook  the  fast  was  228  pounds, 
and  the  girth  of  my  abdomen,  45  inches. 
After  I  had  completed  the  total  abstinence 
period,  I  weighed  174  pounds,  and  measured 
in  girth  38^  inches.  I  am  cured  of  my 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

paralysis ;  my  mentality  is  clear  and  normal ; 
my  entire  digestive  system  is  apparently  per- 
fect; my  vision  is  better  than  for  years;  my 
hand  and  arm  are  strong;  I  have  no  dread 
of  a  second  stroke;  I  have  no  sleepy  spells; 
I  feel  lighter  all  over;  and,  when  weary,  I 
am  quite  refreshed  and  ready  for  further 
exertion  after  a  short  rest." 

A  case  of  the  disease  symptom  known  as 
locomotor-ataxia,  complicated  with  general 
derangement  of  the  nervous  system,  occur- 
ring in  a  female  of  28  years  of  age,  also  of- 
fers itself  for  description.  Preparation  was 
undergone  for  several  weeks  and  a  fast  of 
22  days  resulted  in  the  return  of  hunger  and 
complete  restoration  to  health.  The  medical 
history  of  this  case  showed  obstinate  consti- 
pation for  twenty  years,  and  there  were  ner- 
vous tendencies  that  had  been  persistently 
aggravated.  Medical  advice  had  been  fol- 
lowed constantly  since  birth,  yet,  when  first 
seen,  the  muscles  controlling  legs,  hands, 
arms,  and  face  were  in  constant  motion,  and 
no  effort  of  the  will  could  command  their 
action.  During  the  first  week  of  the  fast, 
rapid  improvement  appeared,  so  much  so  that 
the  young  woman  was  able  to  walk  about 
without  any  evidence  of  extraordinary  lack 

259 


FASTING 

of  coordination  in  movement,  and  by  the 
fourteenth  day  all  muscular  signs  of  nervous- 
ness had  completely  disappeared. 

No  unusual  symptoms  developed  in  this 
case.  The  enemas  brought  away  solid  mat- 
ter until  the  seventeenth  day,  and  thereafter 
but  a  small  quantity  of  bilious  fluid.  Osteo- 
pathic  manipulation  was  daily  resorted  to, 
and  the  loss  in  weight  was  not  remarkable. 
There  were  almost  no  unpleasant  symptoms, 
and  for  this  an  outdoor  life  and  an  equable 
disposition  and  temperament  were  largely  re- 
sponsible. After  a  time  devoted  to  judicious 
exercises,  the  patient  was  discharged  com- 
pletely restored  to  health  and  with  no  remain- 
ing traces  of  the  nervous  disorder  of  former 
days.  An  added  benefit  was  displayed  in 
the  fact  that,  although  there  had  been  decided 
impairment  of  sight,  myopic  in  character,  the 
patient  was  able  to  dispense  with  lenses  six 
weeks  after  the  beginning  of  the  fast. 

The  distressing  affliction,  epilepsy,  is  a  dis- 
ease symptom  that  may  be  traced  to  the 
source  of  all  functional  disorder,  the  diges- 
tive machinery,  and  the  case  of  a  young 
woman,  29  years  of  age,  will  demonstrate  the 
effect  of  the  fast  and  its  adjuncts  upon  this 
disease  characteristic.  Before  entering  upon 

260 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

the  fast,  the  patient  had  tentatively  followed 
a  diet,  and  had  noted  decided  improvement  in 
general  health,  but  no  cessation  of  the  attacks 
peculiar  to  the  disease  named.  Medical  at- 
tendance had  been  continuous  for  years, 
and  no  improvement  had  resulted ;  rather  the 
reverse,  for  the  epileptic  seizures  had  in- 
creased in  number  and  in  severity  as  time 
elapsed.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fast  the 
attacks  were  recurring  at  intervals  of  two 
weeks,  and  the  latest  seizure  had  happened 
but  three  days  before.  For  fifty-six  days 
food  was  denied,  and,  from  the  moment  of 
the  inception  of  the  fast  to  this  present  writ- 
ing not  a  single  convulsion  has  occurred,  nor 
any  semblance  of  an  attack,  while  the  gen- 
eral health  of  the  patient  has  been  better  than 
at  any  time  of  her  life. 

The  fast  in  this  instance  is  to  be  noted  in 
several  minor  ways,  one  of  which  is  the  fact 
that  on  each  of  the  fifty-six  days  the  patient 
walked  a  distance  of  at  least  two  miles;  an- 
other, that  on  the  fortieth  day  of  abstinence 
a  large  mass  of  dead  intestinal  worms  passed 
from  the  bowels  in  the  enema.  Improvement 
was  constant  from  the  first,  but,  after  the 
evacuation  of  these  parasites,  it  was  increased 
most  rapidly,  and  natural  hunger  asserted  it- 

261 


FASTING 

self  on  the  fifty-fifth  day.  The  loss  in  weight 
was  normal,  averaging  about  three-quarters 
of  a  pound  a  day. 

The  medical  history  of  the  next  instance 
tells  of  constant  treatment  for  thirty  years 
for  the  disease  symptom  known  as  diffuse 
psoriasis.  At  the  time  that  the  patient  turned 
to  natural  methods,  the  inflamed,  bleeding 
surfaces  characteristic  of  the  symptom  cov- 
ered at  least  one-third  of  the  skin  of  the  body, 
and  were  not  confined  to  any  particular  local- 
ity, but  appeared  indiscriminately  on  trunk, 
arms,  and  legs;  while  hands,  face,  and  feet 
were  not  affected.  The  sores  were  exuding 
blood  and  serum  and  were  itching  intolerably, 
so  much  so  that  in  order  to  exist  in  anything 
approaching  comfort,  local  application  of 
mercurial  preparations  had  long  been  resort- 
ed to  to  relieve  the  pain  and  inconvenience. 
But  these  proved  only  temporary  in  effect 
and  the  symptom  returned  in  a  short  time 
more  angry  and  more  obstinate. 

The  general  health  of  the  patient  was  ex- 
cellent, and  to  this  a  strong  constitution  and 
a  robust  physique  contributed.  Perhaps,  as 
is  often  the  case,  the  outlet  that  nature  had 
established  in  this  instance  was  most  salutary 
in  so  far  as  the  appearance  of  other  disease 

262 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

symptoms  was  concerned.  This  fact  is  held 
to  be  proved  in  instances  of  syphilitic  infec- 
tion, for  here  all  outward  evidences  of  disease 
are  invariably  subordinated  to  the  direct 
blood  taint. 

When  first  under  observation  the  patient 
weighed  172  pounds,  and  her  habits  were 
those  of  a  woman  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances with  the  idea  ingrained  that  three 
and  even  four  generous  meals  daily  were  nec- 
essary for  the  preservation  of  health  and 
strength.  She  was,  however,  discouraged 
and  disheartened  because  of  the  intolerable 
distress  occasioned  by  the  state  of  her  body, 
and,  as  a  last  resort,  considered  what,  to  her, 
meant  living  death,  the  fast. 

After  three  weeks  of  preparation,  the 
period  of  abstinence  began,  and  continued 
without  interruption  for  75  days.  At  no 
time  during  this  interval  was  any  food  in- 
gested and  at  no  time  was  the  patient  unable 
daily  to  cover  on  foot  the  distance  from  her 
home  to  the  place  of  osteopathic  manipula- 
tion. Undoubtedly  this  was  partly  due  to 
her  magnificent  physical  organization,  as  well 
as  to  a  will  power  equal  to  the  attainment 
of  the  object  in  view.  As  a  consequence  the 
case  was  easy  to  treat  and,  with  the  gradual 

263 


FASTING 

subsidence  of  disease,  early  opposition  was 
conquered  by  faith  in  the  outcome. 

The  fast  was  typical,  and  was  remarkable 
in  nothing  save  its  length.  The  loss  in  weight 
was  not  unusual,  and  at  the  end  of  the  fast 
but  thirty-two  pounds  had  been  eliminated, 
and  the  patient  weighed  on  this  date  140 
pounds.  Until  the  twentieth  day  chilliness 
and  temperature  below  normal  were  noted, 
and,  while  pulse  and  temperature  remained 
below  register  in  the  early  stages,  by  the  sixth 
week  normal  register  had  been  reached.  The 
enemas  contained  solid  feces  until  one-third 
of  the  fast  had  been  finished,  and  thereafter, 
until  the  last  week  of  abstinence,  large  quan- 
tities of  yellowish-white  mucus  were  dis- 
charged. This  catarrhal  refuse  indicated 
that  elimination  had  been  re-established 
through  normal  avenues.  Up  to  this  point 
the  greater  part  of  internal  filth  had  been 
cast  off  through  the  pores  of  the  skin,  an  ab- 
normal condition  that  had  directly  caused  the 
suppurating  areas  on  the  surface  of  the  body. 

It  was  not  until  the  fourth  week  that  vis- 
ible improvement  in  the  exuding  sores  be- 
came noticeable  in  any  degree.  The  itching 
subsided  with  the  cessation  of  exudation,  and 
the  latter  began  to  diminish  to  an  appreciable 

294 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

extent  about  the  end  of  the  third  week.  From 
the  time  mentioned  until  hunger  returned, 
the  inflamed  areas  rapidly  healed,  and  healthy 
skin  formed  in  patches  that  increased  and 
gradually  covered  the  denuded  spots. 

After  breaking  the  fast,  the  general  health 
of  the  patient  continued  excellent,  and  the 
sole  remaining  signs  of  former  disease  were 
the  scarred  edges  surrounding  the  areas  that 
were  last  healed.  Even  these  in  time  disap- 
peared, and  no  trace,  excepting  slight  dis- 
coloration, which  was  the  result  of  the  pre- 
vious medical  treatment  that  the  case  had  re- 
ceived, was  left  as  a  reminder  of  the  hideous 
disfigurement  of  earlier  years. 

At  no  time  during  the  long  interval  with- 
out food  was  any  alarm  felt  concerning  the 
ultimate  outcome  either  by  the  patient  or  by 
her  physician.  Fear  enters  and  disaster  re- 
sults in  cases  not  properly  conducted  solely 
because  of  ignorance  of  the  physiology  and 
of  the  philosophy  of  the  fasting  method  of 
cure,  and  the  case  is  but  another  instance  de- 
monstrating the  fact  that,  in  the  absence  of 
organic  imperfection,  there  is  positively  no 
danger  in  abstaining  from  food  until  nature 
asserts  that  the  elimination  of  disease  is  com- 
plete. 

285 


FASTING 

Another  case  presents  itself — that  of  a 
woman  34  years  old,  in  which  the  fast  was 
undertaken  for  the  relief  of  general  disease 
resulting  from  years  of  wrong  living  and  of 
erroneous  treatment.  Organically  speaking, 
there  was  a  mechanical  defect  in  the  dorsal 
vertebrae,  two  of  which  had  been  displaced 
in  such  manner  as  to  compress  the  spinal  cord 
thus  causing  complete  paralysis  of  the  lower 
trunk  and  legs.  The  slipping  of  these  ver- 
tebrae was  directly  due  to  mal-nutrition  of 
the  dorsal  muscles,  and  in  all  her  life  the 
patient  had  never  known  a  moment  of  health, 
while  intermittently  in  earlier  days  severe 
fevers  had  occurred,  which  finally  created 
contractions  in  the  descending  colon,  a  con- 
dition that  caused  constipation  and  subse- 
quent septicemia.  When  first  examined,  the 
case  had  been  bedridden  for  one  year,  and  a 
congestive  chill  was  the  immediate  severe 
symptom  that  indicated  the  employment  of 
other  means  than  medicine  for  cure.  The 
fast  was  entered  without  preparation,  and 
was  carried  to  a  successful  end  after  58  days. 

The  medical  history  of  this  case  showed 
an  inherited  tendency  towards  scrofula,  and 
there  had  been  manifest  at  intervals  offensive 
running  sores,  while  the  thumb  and  the  in- 

266 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

dex  finger  of  the  left  hand  had  been  ampu- 
tated because  of  a  non-healing  abscess. 
These  ulcers  had  been,  without  exception, 
diagnosed  as  tubercular  in  character  by  pre- 
vious attending  physicians  and  had  been 
treated  from  the  medical  standpoint  accord- 
ingly. 

Two  days  after  the  fast  began,  an  abscess, 
similar  in  nature  to  those  from  which  the 
patient  suffered,  broke  through  the  surface 
of  the  skin  at  the  base  of  the  spine  imme- 
diately over  the  sacrum.  The  discharge  from 
this  sore  was  most  profuse  and  offensive,  and 
the  affected  area  spread  until  it  was  at  least 
three  inches  in  diameter,  while  its  depth  be- 
came such  that  the  periosteum  of  the  sacrum 
was  exposed  within  ten  days  after  the  break- 
ing of  the  skin.  For  a  week  hot  fomenta- 
tions were  continuously  applied,  and  the 
gangrenous  tissue  was  carefully  cauterized 
by  focusing  the  rays  of  the  sun  upon  the  ulcer 
with  an  ordinary  reading  glass.  By  the 
tenth  day  the  discharge  had  ceased  to  be 
offensive,  and  a  few  days  later  healthy  gran- 
ulation began.  When  the  fast  was  complete, 
at  the  end  of  58  days,  the  sole  evidence  of  the 
sore  that  remained  was  a  circular  spot  of 
slightly  reddish  normal  skin  of  which  the 

267 


FASTING 


subjacent  cushion  of  healthy  flesh  proclaimed 
that  natural  work  of  repair  had  progressed 
despite  the  absence  of  food.  This  is  the 
point  of  greatest  interest  and  import  to  be 
observed  in  the  treatment  of  this  case,  when 
it  is  remembered  that  the  blood  of  this  woman 
had  possibly  been  tainted  at  birth,  and  had 
been  poisoned  and  repoisoned  for  years  by 
constant  additions  to  accumulated  food  rub- 
bish. Elimination  had  never  been  succesfully 
accomplished  in  this  body,  but,  once  it  could 
proceed  undisturbed,  nature  was  able,  not 
only  to  cast  out  existing  impurity,  but  also 
to  repair  diseased  tissue  from  the  store  of 
healthy  pabulum  husbanded  within. 

The  results  of  the  copious  daily  enemas 
were  noticeable  for  their  exceeding  foulness, 
and  for  the  large  quantity  of  dark  bilious 
fluid  that  was  evacuated  until  the  thirtieth 
day  of  the  fast.  The  loss  in  weight  was  not 
remarkable  and  amounted  to  but  twenty 
pounds,  and,  when  it  is  considered  that  the 
patient  weighed  only  85  pounds  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  fast,  the  proportion  of  loss  as 
given  in  a  later  table  was  well  carried  out. 
While  the  mechanical  difficulty  referred  to 
was  not  wholly  relieved  at  the  completion  of 
treatment,  the  general  health  of  the  patient 

268 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

was  such  at  this  time  as  to  place  her  well  for- 
ward on  the  road  to  perfect  recovery. 

In  concluding  the  history  of  this  case,  at- 
tention is  again  called  to  the  healing  of  a 
scrof  ular  abscess  to  the  point  of  complete  and 
healthy  closure  while  the  fast  was  in  prog- 
ress. 

Another  instance  is  that  of  a  woman  of  28 
in  whom  poor  nutrition  and  what  is  called  a 
bilious  temperament  had  brought  about  a 
condition  that  manifested  itself  in  periodical 
headaches  and  in  melancholia  with  a  tendency 
toward  mania.  But  for  the  care  and  devotion 
of  an  older  sister,  the  patient  would  have 
been  placed  in  an  asylum  long  before  coming 
under  observation.  In  fact,  it  was  because 
the  physician  last  consulted  had  recom- 
mended that  she  be  restrained  that  her  rela- 
tives, in  despair,  resorted  to  the  fast. 

Examination  showed  a  pulse  continually 
at  128  and  a  temperature  that  varied  from 
above  to  below  normal  with  no  apparent  rea- 
son. The  diet  of  the  patient  had  consisted 
largely  of  meat  and  its  extracts,  and  this  was 
at  once  changed  to  vegetable  broths,  while 
the  daily  enemas  were  vigorously  applied. 
At  first  hot  towel  packs  were  used  upon  the 
spine  in  order  to  control  the  circulation  and 

369 


FASTING 

to  steady  the  fluctuating  pulse,  but  after  a 
short  time  these  were  discontinued  since 
heart  beat  and  temperature  made  constant 
improvement  from  the  beginning.  Dark, 
foul-smelling  discharges  that  did  not  cease 
until  the  latter  part  of  the  fast  formed  the 
bulk  of  the  liquid  in  the  returned  enemas. 

The  patient  showed  extraordinary  vitality 
throughout  the  entire  period  of  42  days  of 
abstinence  from  food,  and  she  daily  walked  a 
distance  of  two  miles,  underwent  osteopathic 
manipulation,  and  returned  to  her  home 
without  undue  fatigue.  Towards  the  end  of 
treatment  she  was  able  and  desirous  to  in- 
crease the  amount  of  her  exercise,  while  her 
mental  condition  improved  from  the  very 
beginning  of  the  dieting  period.  On  the 
thirtieth  day  of  fasting  and  thereafter  the 
young  woman  performed  her  portion  of  the 
housework  well  and  cheerfully.  Hunger  re- 
turned on  the  forty-first  day,  and  the  fast 
was  broken  on  the  morning  of  the  forty- 
third.  Two  weeks  later  the  sisters  sailed  for 
their  home  abroad,  and  a  letter  written  by  the 
patient  since  their  arrival  shows  a  mind  in 
every  way  rational. 

The  case  of  a  man  47  years  old  who  had 

270 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

been  paralyzed  on  the  right  side  and  who  had 
shown  signs  of  insanity  is  next  noted.  The 
medical  history  exhibited  habitual  constipa- 
tion, periodical  headaches,  and  prolonged 
bilious  attacks.  A  fast  without  preparation 
was  begun  and  continued  for  twenty  days 
with  results  that  showed  the  paralysis  much 
improved,  bowels  regular  in  action,  no  head- 
aches, and  a  steady  gain  in  flesh  and  strength 
on  diet  after  the  fast.  Three  months  later  a 
second  fast  was  begun  and  continued  to  suc- 
cessful completion  for  full  forty-one  days. 
The  patient  daily  visited  the  office  for  osteo- 
pathic  manipulation,  and  constant  improve- 
ment was  apparent  from  the  first.  In  neither 
of  the  two  periods  of  abstinence  from  food 
were  there  any  special  symptoms  to  be  noted, 
and  the  final  result  embodied  complete  eradi- 
cation of  .paralysis  and  of  its  symptoms,  and 
great  improvement  in  general  health.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  second  period  of  fast- 
ing the  patient  weighed  105  pounds;  two 
months  after  its  completion  he  had  regained 
his  normal  weight  of  145  pounds. 

Tuberculosis  of  the  lungs  is  a  disease 
symptom  that  needs  to  be  uncovered  and  at- 
tacked in  its  early  stages,  and  the  case  of  a 
woman  of  82  is  given  to  illustrate  its  prog- 

971 


FASTING 


ress  under  the  fast.  This  patient  abstained 
from  food  for  twenty-four  days,  but  prep- 
aration, the  fast,  and  the  period  of  diet  after 
the  latter  was  concluded,  covered  a  time  of 
full  six  months.  When  first  under  observa- 
tion, examination  of  the  sputum  showed 
numbers  of  bacilli  typical  of  the  symptom; 
both  lungs  were  affected;  chills  with  fever 
occurred  daily  in  the  afternoon;  in  fact,  the 
case  displayed  all  the  signs  characteristic  of 
the  symptom  named.  After  a  liquid  diet  for 
several  weeks,  the  fast  was  undertaken,  was 
continued  for  twenty-four  days,  and  no  un- 
favorable conditions  of  any  kind  developed. 
From  the  beginning  an  excessive  discharge 
of  sputum  occurred,  but  this  gradually  di- 
minished until  evidences  of  the  return  of 
hunger  appeared,  and,  at  the  several  period- 
ical examinations  made  during  the  time  of 
fasting,  general  decrease  in  the  number  of 
bacilli  was  observed.  The  enemas  were  con- 
stantly charged  with  bile  and  with  old  feces, 
and  these  products  disappeared  only  during 
the  last  week  of  the  fast.  The  chills  and  the 
fever  vanished  by  the  fourteenth  day,  and, 
when  the  sputum  was  examined  on  the 
twenty-second  day  of  abstinence,  there  was 
no  trace  of  micro-organisms.  General  health 

979 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

was  marked  by  constant  improvement  after 
the  fast  was  broken. 

The  treatment  of  tuberculosis  of  the  lungs 
by  means  of  the  fast,  to  insure  successful 
issue,  must  be  undertaken  before  the  stage 
when  excessive  structural  break-down  of 
lung  tissue  has  occurred.  If  attacked  at  this 
time,  a  cure  is  assured.  Otherwise,  the  case 
classes  itself  with  that  of  advanced  organic 
disease,  which,  in  the  light  of  previous  dis- 
cussion, bars  all  remedy. 

The  symptom  named  in  the  medical  diag- 
nosis of  the  next  case  was  valvular  heart  dis- 
ease, and  prognosis  assumed  that  the  patient 
had  no  hope  of  recovery.  There  was  great 
pain  in  the  regions  of  the  heart,  stomach,  and 
liver,  and  at  times  in  the  abdomen.  The  heart 
missed  one  beat  in  every  three;  and,  in  view 
of  the  seriousness  of  the  condition,  the  fast 
was  begun  without  preparation  immediately 
upon  coming  under  observation.  Enormous 
amounts  of  dark  bilious  fluid  came  away  with 
every  enema,  of  which  four  were  adminis- 
tered daily  throughout  the  fast.  Excruciat- 
ing pain  and  nervous  excitement  were  ex- 
perienced until  the  twentieth  day,  when  at 
least  a  cupful  of  gallstones  was  evacuated. 
These  continued  to  be  passed  until  the  thir- 

273 


FASTING 


tieth  day  of  the  fast,  which  was  broken  on 
the  thirty-fifth.  The  weight  o:'  the  patient 
at  completion  was  174  pounds,  a  'eduction  of 
twenty  pounds  in  thirty -five  di  /s.  In  the 
early  part  of  this  fast  there  was  great  chilli- 
ness, but  temperature  and  pulse  reached 
normal  by  the  twentieth  day,  the  latter  miss- 
ing no  beats.  Before  this  the  pulse  had  been 
at  times  above,  at  times  below  register  ac- 
cording to  the  degree  of  activity  of  the  circu- 
lating poison.  From  the  breaking  of  the 
fast  all  functions  became  an  1  continued  nor- 
mal; weight  was  gained  gradually,  and  soon 
reached  185  pounds;  and  from  the  com- 
pletion of  treatment  the  general  health  was 
perfect. 

An  interesting  addendum  to  this  case  is 
the  fact  that  the  patient,  after  strictly  fol- 
lowing the  rules  prescribed  as  to  diet,  habits, 
and  exercise  for  at  least  a  year  and  a  half 
after  restoration  to  health,  lapsed  and  fell 
into  laxness  both  in  eating  and  in  drinking, 
with  the  result  that,  two  years  subsequent 
to  the  first  attack,  an  abscess  formed  upon 
the  floor  of  the  stomach,  and  the  patient 
again  came  under  observation  and  treatment, 
and  underwent  a  second  fast  of  forty-five 
days.  The  condition  at  this  time  gave  great 

274 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

pain  until  the  ulcer  discharged,  which  was 
evidenced  by  the  passage  of  large  quantities 
of  clotted  blood  and  pus  from  the  bowels. 
The  patient  hovered  between  life  and  death 
for  several  weeks,  but  the  absence  of  food 
prevented  irritation,  the  ulcer  healed,  and 
health  returned.  The  application  of  the  fast- 
ing method  of  cure  to  a  condition  such  as  was 
exhibited  in  this  patient's  second  siege  with 
disease  is  so  essentially  reasonable  and  so 
plain  in  argument  that  this  description  of 
the  treatment  of  an  internal  ulcer  should  con- 
vince any  unbiased  mind. 

A  short  description  of  a  fast  for  chronic 
digestive  disturbance  or  dyspepsia  is  pre- 
sented in  the  following  case,  that  of  a  man 
45  years  of  age.  The  fast  itself  covered  a 
period  of  forty-nine  days,  and  from  its  be- 
ginning until  t%  forty-fifth  day  the  patient 
was  unable  to  rise  from  bed.  At  this  date 
the  tongue  cleared  as  if  by  magic;  hunger 
returned  and  with  it  strength;  and  on  the 
forty-ninth  day,  when  the  fast  was  broken, 
the  patient  walked  a  distance  of  seventeen 
city  blocks  with  but  little  fatigue.  No  un- 
usual symptoms,  excepting  the  excessive 
weakness  mentioned,  developed  during  ab- 
stinence ;  and,  from  the  breaking  of  the  fast, 

275 


FASTING 

improvement  was  constant  and  permanent. 

In  another  instance  the  fast  was  under- 
taken for  the  purpose  of  correcting  func- 
tional heart  disease,  coupled  with  extreme 
obesity,  by  a  woman  41  years  of  age,  whose 
weight  was  200  pounds.  The  patient  showed 
no  medical  history,  excepting  that  she  had 
submitted  to  an  operation  some  years  pre- 
vious for  the  disease  symptom  known  as  sal- 
pingitis.  Throughout  the  fast  the  patient 
was  able  to  attend  to  her  home  duties  and 
to  take  a  daily  walk  to  and  from  the  office 
of  an  osteopathic  practitioner,  and  these  acts 
were  easily  accomplished  during  the  long 
fast  of  sixty-three  days.  There  was  but  little 
faster's  chilliness,  and  there  were  no  un- 
usual symptoms,  excepting  that,  at  about 
the  period  included  between  the  thirtieth  and 
fortieth  days,  a  gain  in  weight  of  from  two 
to  three  pounds  daily  occurred,  after  which 
a  gradual  decrease  continued,  as  before,  until 
the  end  of  the  fast,  when  weight  was  reduced 
to  140  pounds,  and  heart  disturbance  had  en- 
tirely disappeared. 

Medical  diagnosis  of  the  next  case  was 
based  upon  dark,  ill-smelling  fecal  discharge, 
and  the  symptom  was  deemed  an  indication 
of  the  existence  of  cancer  of  the  stomach. 

276 


A.  H.  Age,  thirty-seven  years.  Case  diag- 
nosed as  cancer  of  the  stomach  by  physician. 
Photograph  taken  on  fiftieth  day  of  fast  just 
before  breaking  it.  Weight  at  beginning  of 
fast,  135  pounds.  Weight  at  end  of  fast,  105 
pounds.  Weight  two  months  later,  175  pounds. 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

The  patient,  a  man  40  years  old,  was  really 
suffering  from  a  badly  congested  condition 
of  stomach  and  upper  intestines,  and  under- 
went a  fast  of  fifty  days  with  no  marked 
disturbances.  His  weight  was  reduced  from 
145  pounds  to  105  pounds,  and  the  subse- 
quent gain  in  avoirdupois  and  in  strength 
was  normal,  with  the  result  that  in  two 
months  from  breaking  the  fast,  he  had  re- 
gained the  former  to  the  point  of  balancing 
the  scales  at  170. 

Without  citing  individual  instances,  at- 
tention is  directed  to  the  ease  with  which 
the  disease  symptom  known  as  appendicitis 
yields  to  the  fast.  The  vermiform  appendix 
in  the  human  body  is  a  slender  blind  sac  open- 
ing from  the  caecal  portion  of  the  large  in- 
testines. It  is  on  an  aA^erage  from  three  to 
six  inches  in  length,  and  of  a  calibre  of  that 
of  a  lead-pencil.  It  is  found  in  man  and  in 
some  of  the  lower  animals,  and  in  a  few  of 
the  latter  it  is  large  and  performs  a  digestive 
function.  In  the  human  body  its  use  is  prob- 
lematical, but  it  is  more  than  probable  that  its 
function  is  that  of  stimulating  peristalsis, 
either  through  the  secretion  of  a  lubricant 
or  by  mechanical  contractions. 

In  the  medical  world,  radical  treatment 

277 


FASTING 


of  this  symptom  demands  immediate  oper- 
ation and  removal  of  the  appendix.  Ob- 
servation of  numbers  of  cases  leads  to  the 
belief  that  an  inflamed  appendix  is  a  symp- 
tom most  rare  in  occurrence.  The  modern 
craze  for  cutting  living  flesh  is  responsible 
for  snap  judgment  in  diagnosis,  and  gas  in 
the  caecum,  gall  stones,  inflammation  of 
the  ovary  or  of  the  bowel  in  the  ileo-caecal 
region,  all  have  been  mistaken  for  an  in- 
flamed appendix  and  have  occasioned  unnec- 
essary operations  with  serious  and  perhaps 
fatal  shock. 

In  the  treatment  of  any  intestinal  inflam- 
mation, appendicitis  included,  no  assistance 
is  needed  other  than  that  which  complete  rest 
of  the  digestive  tract  and  constant  applica- 
tion of  the  enema  afford.  Pain  ceases  and 
fever  is  reduced  in  every  uncomplicated  in- 
stance by  the  end  of  the  third  day,  and  the 
sole  necessity  for  the  continuance  of  the  fast 
is  found  in  seeking  perfect  results  and  the 
general  welfare  of  the  patient. 

A  young  man,  23  years  of  age,  offers  a 
case  of  the  insanity  of  syphilis.  The  blood 
taint  was  acquired  by  contact,  and,  when  ob- 
served and  first  under  treatment,  presented 
what  is  known  as  the  secondary  stage  of  the 

978 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

disease  symptom  named.  The  mental  con- 
dition of  the  patient  was  such  that  no  phy- 
sical act  was  under  control,  and  all  abnormal 
tendencies  pursued  erotic  channels.  His 
weight  when  treatment  began  was  150 
pounds.  After  low  diet  and  an  absolute  fast 
of  twenty-eight  days,  the  time  of  dieting  and 
of  the  fast  having  occupied  three  months, 
weight  was  reduced  to  67  pounds.  There 
were  no  unusual  symptoms  during  the  period 
of  fasting,  but  progress  toward  sanity  was 
daily  noticeable,  and,  at  the  end  of  the  time 
mentioned,  mental  balance  was  entirely  re- 
stored, while  the  blood  taint  has  never  since 
given  any  evidence  that  it  ever  existed. 

A  young  man,  19  years  old,  who  had  been 
led  into  habits,  mental  and  physical,  detri- 
mental to  normal  development,  became,  as  a 
result,  a  victim  of  the  disease  symptom, 
epilepsy.  For  five  years  he  suffered  from 
the  fits  characteristic  of  the  malady,  recur- 
rent at  intervals  of  from  one  to  two  weeks. 
Medicine  had  been  appealed  to  in  vain,  and 
when  the  fast  was  proposed,  it  was  dis- 
covered, after  careful  examination,  that  the 
youth  was  addicted  to  masturbation,  which, 
in  instances  of  this  nature,  is  more  of  a  symp- 
tom than  a  cause.  A  condition  of  low  phy- 

279 


FASTING 


sical  tone  seems  rather  to  induce  a  habit  of 
this  kind,  and  the  young  man  was  no  excep- 
tion to  the  rule.  For  five  months  a  regime 
of  restricted  diet  and  of  fasting  was  pur- 
sued. The  absolute  fast  intermittently  in- 
cluded in  this  time  occupied  a  total  of  sixty 
days.  Symptoms  gradually  subsided,  and 
the  recurrence  of  the  epileptic  seizures  be- 
came reduced  to  such  an  extent  that,  at  the 
end  of  the  second  short  fast,  four  weeks  in- 
tervened between  attacks ;  and,  when  feeding 
was  permanently  resumed,  no  further  seiz- 
ures were  apprehended.  The  weight  of  the 
patient  was  reduced  before  disease  was  elimi- 
nated to  fifty-eight  pounds,  but,  from  the 
breaking  of  the  fast,  a  gradual  increase  took 
place,  and,  at  the  end  of  dieting,  he  had  re- 
gained his  normal  of  148  pounds. 

A  woman,  36  years  of  age,  at  the  end  of 
the  third  month  of  pregnancy  developed 
severe  bilious  symptoms.  Vomiting  of  dark 
green  bile,  and  a  condition  verging  upon 
coma  demanded  immediate  action,  so  the  fast 
was  begun  and  copious  enemas  were  adminis- 
tered twice  daily.  The  latter  brought  from 
the  bowels  dark  discharges,  which  continued 
with  no  apparent  improvement  until  the  sev- 
enteenth day  of  abstinence.  On  the  fifteenth, 

C33 


Mrs.  E.  S.  Extreme  bilious  symptoms  with  stupor  and 
nausea.  Fast  of  twenty-two  days  while  pregnant  with  child 
whose  picture  is  also  shown.  Photograph  taken  six  months 
after  birth  of  child. 


CURES      BY     FASTING 

sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  days  the  patient 
lay  in  a  semi-conscious  state,  but  revived  on 
the  morning  of  the  eighteenth,  when  the 
bowel  passages  were  almost  normal  in  color. 
Rapid  return  to  consciousness  occurred,  and 
increased  strength  marked  all  succeeding 
days  until  the  twenty-second,  when  the  fast 
was  broken  upon  fruit  juices,  and  convales- 
cence thereafter  proceeded  without  interrup- 
tion. 

The  loss  in  weight  in  this  case  was  22 
pounds.  Temperature  and  pulse  were  con- 
tinually above  individual  normal  until  the 
latter  part  of  the  fast,  the  former  ranging 
between  95  and  99,  and  the  latter  from  80 
to  110,  although  a  decided  drop  in  each  was 
observed  after  the  administration  of  an 
enema.  No  return  of  the  nausea  of  preg- 
nancy occurred  after  breaking  the  fast,  and 
thereafter  the  general  health  of  the  patient 
was  excellent.  At  term  an  eight-pound  child 
was  delivered,  perfectly  developed  and  vig- 
orously healthy. 

On  the  fifteenth  day  of  this  fast,  in  view 
of  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  a  consultation 
was  held  with  a  former  medical  adviser.  The 
latter  advocated,  as  the  only  means  of  saving 
the  life  of  the  mother,  the  immediate  removal 


FASTING 


of  the  fetus,  and  the  abandonment  of  the 
fast.  His  opinion  was  overruled,  however, 
and  the  result  of  the  case  fully  justified  the 
stand  taken.  As  the  officiating  physician  at 
the  confinement,  five  months  later,  he  ex- 
pressed himself  concerning  the  ease  of  de- 
livery and  the  remarkable  vitality  of  the  in- 
fant, and  acknowledged  his  error  in  judg- 
ment by  a  complete  reversal  of  his  condem- 
nation of  the  fast. 

An  analogous  case  is  that  of  a  woman  of 
27,  wife  of  a  practicing  physician.  She  was 
between  three  and  four  months  pregnant, 
and  was  suffering  severe  pain  in  the  region 
of  the  uterus  and  in  that  of  the  stomach. 
The  former  organ  was  found  to  be  displaced. 
Nausea  and  vomiting  were  constantly  dis- 
tressing the  patient  when  the  case  was  pre- 
sented and  the  fast  decided  upon.  A  pre- 
paratory period  of  twelve  days  on  liquid  diet 
preceded  the  latter,  which  continued  for 
thirty  days.  No  unusual  symptoms  arose 
during  this  time,  and  constant  improvement 
was  noted  from  the  beginning,  the  sensation 
of  nausea  decreasing  successively  and  disap- 
pearing about  the  twentieth  day  with  no 
return  thereafter.  Pulse  and  temperature 
remained  slightly  below  normal  until  eating 

282 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

was  resumed.  The  fast  was  introduced  and 
broken  upon  strained  vegetable  broths,  and 
solid  food  was  eaten  twelve  days  from  the 
date  of  its  completion.  At  term  the  patient 
was  delivered  of  a  babe  weighing  seven 
pounds,  as  physically  perfect  and  as  healthy 
as  that  described  in  the  previous  case.  The 
loss  of  weight  in  this  fast  was  an  even  thirty 
pounds. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  children  of 
these  two  mothers  are  not  only  physically 
excellent  examples,  but  are  also  mentally 
intelligent  to  a  marked  degree.  These  grati- 
fying characteristics  are  to  be  attributed  to 
the  purification  in  body  undergone  by  the 
pregnant  women  at  a  stage  early  enough  to 
provide  for  cell  structure  in  the  forming 
child  unvitiated  by  disease  in  the  system  of 
the  mother. 

The  statement  of  the  following  case  is  in 
the  language  of  the  father  of  the  patient : 

"During  several  weeks  prior  to  his  sixth 
birthday,  our  oldest  boy  had  complained  of 
sore  throat  and  general  lassitude.  This  final- 
ly developed  into  an  acute  tonsilitis.  On  the 
third  or  fourth  day  he  complained  of  pain 
in  both  knees,  and  by  evening  these  joints 
were  swollen  and  red,  and  the  pain  had  be- 

383 


FASTING 


come  so  intense  that  the  weight  of  the  bed- 
clothes was  unbearable.  The  physician 
whom  we  called — one  of  the  regular  school 
— promptly  diagnosed  the  case  as  one  of  in- 
flammatory rheumatism.  He  advised  the 
use  of  hot  applications  to  subdue  the  pain, 
and  insisted  on  putting  the  left  knee,  which 
was  the  worse,  in  a  splint  so  that  it  could 
not  be  moved.  On  his  second  or  third  visit 
he  discovered  mitral  regurgitation,  that  com- 
mon and  ominous  symptom,  showing  that 
the  systemic  poisoning  had  affected  the 
valves  of  the  heart.  His  prognosis  was  most 
unfavorable.  He  said  that  the  acute  stage 
would  last  probably  six  weeks,  and  that  it 
would  leave  the  patient  with  organic  heart 
trouble. 

"At  this  point  we  decided  to  resort  to  a 
method  in  which  we  had  long  believed,  but 
which  we  had  failed  to  try  at  the  outset  of 
this  sickness  because  we  had  not  realized  the 
seriousness  of  the  case.  We  discharged  the 
physician  and  began  the  treatment  described 
herein  under  the  direction  of  a  competent 
natural  practitioner.  She  took  off  the  splint 
and  gave  both  knees  a  careful  but  thorough 
rubbing.  They  had  been  apparently  too 
sensitive  to  touch  before  this,  but  by  the 


Two  Fasting  Subjects— F.  T.  on  the  right,  J.  T.  on  left. 

F.  T.,  the  larger  boy,  fasted  twelve  days  and  was 
on  a  limited  diet  six  weeks,  then  took  a  second  fast  of 
twenty-two  days.  The  child  was  totally  blind  in  con- 
nection with  severe  inflammatory  rheumatism.  A  com- 
plete cure  effected  with  sight  completely  restored. 

J.  T.,  the  smaller  boy,  fasted  seven  days  for  stomach 
and  bowel  trouble.  Photograph  taken  one  year  after 
the  fast  of  the  smaller  child,  and  one  and  one-half  years 
after  the  long  fast  of  the  larger  boy. 


CUKES     BY     FASTING 

time  she  had  finished  the  massage,  the  child 
said  that  they  felt  better.  She  told  us  not  to 
bother  about  his  heart  or  anything  else  in 
the  line  of  symptoms,  but  to  stop  feeding 
him,  to  give  him  daily  baths  and  manipula- 
tion— and  to  watch  nature  do  the  rest. 

"The  pain  kept  up  at  intervals,  intervals 
which  grew  steadily  longer,  however,  for  two 
days,  then  ceased  entirely.  Before  the  end 
of  the  week,  the  patient  was  able  to  be  taken 
down  town  on  the  street  car  for  his  osteo- 
pathic  treatment.  His  fast  lasted  twelve 
days. 

"Later  in  the  summer  he  had  a  recurrence 
of  an  old  eye  trouble,  one  resulting  from  an 
impure  condition  of  the  blood.  He  had  been 
treated  the  summer  before  for  this  trouble, 
which  had  lasted  several  months.  This  time 
we  began  another  fast,  which  continued  for 
twenty-two  days.  At  its  end  he  stripped  the 
bandage  off  his  eyes  one  evening  and  looked 
at  us  and  we  knew  that  the  thing  was  con- 
quered. During  a  few  of  the  twenty-two 
days  he  had  a  little  orange  juice,  and  at  all 
times  he  had  all  the  water  that  he  desired.  A 
daily  bath  and  rub  were  given,  and  a  copious 
enema  each  morning  and  evening. 

285 


FASTING 


"At  the  time  of  writing,  two  years  from 
the  date  of  the  last  fast,  there  has  been  no 
recurrence  of  either  the  throat  trouble,  rheu- 
matism, or  eye  trouble,  and  a  regular  physi- 
cian, a  friend  of  the  family,  who  examined 
the  boy  a  few  months  ago,  pronounced  his 
heart  perfect." 

The  next  and  last  case  is  that  of  a  cancer 
of  the  right  eyelid  of  twelve  years  standing 
in  a  man  62  years  old.  The  patient  had  been 
twice  operated  upon  without  success,  and  the 
cancer  made  its  third  appearance  in  most 
virulent  form.  A  consultation  with  a  medi- 
cal specialist  resulted  in  renewed  recom- 
mendation of  the  knife  to  which  the  patient 
refused  to  submit.  He  began  preparation 
for  a  fast  which  lasted  forty-five  days,  and 
at  the  expiration  of  this  period  all  that  re- 
mained of  the  suppurating  sore  was  a  red- 
dish scar  of  its  former  seat.  Four  years  later 
his  personal  report  of  the  case  shows  no 
symptom  of  recurrence  upon  the  eyelid  or 
elsewhere,  and  general  health  superb.  The 
eradication  of  this  symptom  of  extreme 
blood  impurity  by  means  of  the  fast  fixes 
the  value  of  the  treatment  in  supposedly  in- 
curable forms  of  disease.  It  bears  out  com- 
pletely the  contention  that  disease  is  a  unity, 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

and  that  its  cure  lies  in  the  application  of 
the  single  method  of  nature,  elimination. 
Cancer  is  merely  a  symptom  of  general  dis- 
ease, and  it  may  be  eradicated  when  its 
ravages  have  not  involved  an  organ  to  the 
extent  of  rendering  it  incapable  of  function. 

A  cancer,  a  tumor,  are  evidences  of 
nature's  economy  in  gathering  her  forces  of 
cure  at  a  single  point.  Medicine  seeks  to 
"drive  it  in;"  surgery  to  "cut  it  out;"  neither 
succeeds  in  removing  its  cause.  Even  though 
the  actual  growth  and  its  nearby  ramifica- 
tions are  extirpated  by  the  knife,  nature  is 
still  impelled  to  rid  the  body  of  its  circulat- 
ing impurity  by  constructing  destructive 
cells,  and  only  blood  purification  can  ac- 
complish a  cure. 

The  cases  cited  in  this  chapter  are  des- 
cribed with  as  little  technical  language  as 
possible,  and  are  submitted  in  order  to  show 
the  variety  of  symptoms  treated,  all  of  which 
revert  to  the  fundamental  principle  dwelt 
upon  and  emphasized  in  the  text — that  there 
is  but  one  symptom  of  disease,  impure  blood ; 
and  that  it  has  but  one  cause,  impaired  di- 
gestion; and,  further,  that  any  and  all  of  its 
medically-termed  manifestations,  because 
they  are  results  from  the  same  origin,  will 

287 


FASTING 

yield  to  the  remedy  indicated  and  prescribed 
by  nature. 

Faster's  chilliness,  referred  to  in  a  number 
of  instances  in  the  text,  should  not  neces- 
sarily convey  the  idea  that  body  temperature 
in  these  cases  was  below  normal.  At  any 
time  chilliness  is  simply  a  condition  of  sen- 
sation, and  in  the  fast  it  is  due  to  the  absence 
of  food  stimulation,  as  previously  described. 
Then,  too,  it  is  to  be  recalled  that  normal 
pulse  and  normal  temperature  are  relative 
terms,  and  that  their  limits  vary  with  the 
individual.  In  many  of  the  cases  quoted  and 
in  others  not  mentioned,  temperature  was 
below  register  during  part  of  the  fast,  but 
the  application  of  the  treatment  and  its  ac- 
cessories invariably  restored  these  conditions 
to  normal  for  the  particular  patient. 

Attention  has  been  drawn  to  the  fact  that 
when  death  has  occurred  during  the  fast,  the 
organic  trouble  revealed  showed  in  each  in- 
stance that  some  paralyzing  influence  had 
interfered  in  early  life  with  the  functions 
and  had  retarded  the  development  or  struc- 
turally affected  the  organs.  Original  defects 
thus  caused  have  always  been  located  in  the 
organs  of  digestion,  which  displayed  con- 
tractions, accumulations  of  morbid  or  of 

288 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

healthy  tissue,  and  lesions  that  lead  to  bu' 
one  conclusion,  viz. — Barring  congenital 
deficiency,  these  deformities,  without  shad- 
ow of  doubt,  are  caused  by  powerful  drugs 
with  which  the  science  of  medicine  formerly 
saturated  the  system. 

The  following  table  is  arranged  to  show 
the  diminution  in  weight  in  fasts  of  varying 
lengths.  The  average  loss,  it  will  be  seen,  is 
one  pound  daily. 


No.      Weight  at 
of  Days  Beginning 

Weight  at 
End  of 

Loss  in 

Names      Fasted     of  Fast 

Fast 

Weight 

1. 

G.E.D. 

50 

228 

Ibs. 

174 

Ibs. 

54 

Ibs. 

2. 

I.N.M. 

22 

150 

Ibs. 

123 

Ibs. 

27 

Ibs. 

3. 

N.H.L. 

10 

178 

Ibs. 

165 

Ibs. 

13 

Ibs. 

4. 

F.H.W. 

20 

182 

Ibs. 

158 

Ibs. 

24 

Ibs. 

5. 

J.B. 

23 

165 

Ibs. 

154 

Ibs. 

11 

Ibs. 

6. 

A.B. 

8 

135 

Ibs. 

127 

Ibs. 

8 

Ibs. 

7. 

G.W.T. 

41 

109 

Ibs. 

73 

Ibs. 

36  Ibs. 

8. 

F.J.C. 

28 

136 

Ibs. 

103 

Ibs. 

33 

Ibs. 

9. 

T.R.A. 

34 

117 

Ibs. 

92 

Ibs. 

25 

Ibs. 

10. 

R.B. 

17 

135 

Ibs. 

118 

Ibs. 

17 

Ibs. 

Totals 

253 

1535 

Ibs. 

1287 

Ibs. 

248 

Ibs. 

A  reference  to  the  chapter,  "Death  in  the 
Fast,"  will  illustrate  the  lack  of  development 
in  bodily  organs.  In  several  of  these  cases, 


FASTING 


degeneration  of  one  or  other  of  the  large 
digestive  glands — the  liver,  the  spleen,  and 
the  pancreas — is  also  revealed.  In  one  par- 
ticular subject  the  pancreas  had  become  a 
mere  cartilaginous  replica  of  the  original 
organ,  a  petrified  reminder  of  its  former  self. 
In  another  case,  a  hardened  ring  of  mus- 
cular material  had  brought  the  walls  of  the 
stomach  to  such  a  state  of  contraction  that 
distinct  and  separate  pouches  were  formed, 
and  the  floor  of  the  organ  at  the  contraction 
lay  within  a  half -inch  of  its  upper  wall. 
Contractions  existed  also  throughout  the 
length  of  the  small  intestines,  but  those  por- 
tions, which  were  in  functional  state  between, 
showed  conclusively  that  the  organ  had 
fully  developed,  and  had  been  originally  of 
normal  size  and  function,  but  had  been  acted 
upon  by  some  corrosive  agent  that  had 
caused  the  deformation.  In  other  autopsies 
intestines  were  of  infantile  size,  and  exhibit- 
ed a  condition  that  made  known  the  fact 
that  at  no  time  after  the  third  or  fourth 
year  of  infancy  had  they  ever  added  to  their 
structure  or  to  their  capability  of  function. 
The  cause  of  this  result  must  also  be  ascribed 
directly  to  the  same  malignant  influence — 
the  administration  of  poisons,  of  paralyzing 


CURES     BY     FASTING 

extracts,  that  destroy  nerve  transmission  and 
occasion  paralysis  of  function  and  of  organ. 

It  is  evident  that  the  word,  "science,"  de- 
fined as  "to  know,"  cannot  be  applied  to 
medicine  as  a  curative  system  for  disease. 
No  practitioner  is  able  to  foretell  the  effect 
of  a  drug  upon  successive  patients.  One 
may  be  stimulated,  another  stupefied,  and 
these  results  may  be  reversed  when  condi- 
tions are  changed.  The  physician  of  the 
future  will  forsake  symptoms  except  as  in- 
dications for  local  relief,  and  will  devote 
himself  to  the  prevention  of  disease,  to  the 
Science  embodied  in  the  unchanging  laws  of 
nature. 

While  the  rest  and  the  purification  that 
result  from  a  completed  fast  are  the  basis 
of  the  method  of  treatment,  additional 
means  that  can  in  any  way  assist  in  attaining 
results  are  never  neglected,  and  these  ma- 
terial aids  need  not  ever  enter  the  domain  of 
medicine.  Osteopathic  manipulation,  intelli- 
gently applied,  proves  of  great  value  at  all 
times  during  the  fast  and  thereafter.  Chiro- 
practic adjustment  of  spinal  column  brings 
relief  and  comfort.  And  each  of  these 
schools,  with  their  limitations  recognized, 
are  yet  to  be  reckoned  as  important  adjuncts 

291 


FASTING 


on  curative  lines.  The  differences  that  arise 
among  members  of  the  medical  profession 
are  such  as  cannot  occur  among  those  who 
reason  with  nature  from  cause  to  effect,  nor 
is  it  necessary  for  the  natural  practitioner  to 
wait  until  disease  has  reached  an  acute  stage 
before  making  diagnosis. 


292 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


DEATH  IN  THE  FAST 


"It  is  hard  to  take 

The  lesson  that  such  deaths  mill  teach, 

But  let  no  man  reject  it, 

For  it  is  one  that  all  must  learn, 

And  is  a  mighty  universal  Truth." 

Charles  Dickens. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

DEATH  IN  THE  FAST 

DEATH  under  medical  treatment,  in 
the  majority  of  instances,  results 
from  disease  that  is  functional,  not 
organic.  In  the  experience  of  the  writer, 
death  in  the  fast  never  has  occurred  when 
merely  FUNCTIONAL  disease  was  pres- 
ent, and  never  has  resulted  from  abstinence 
from  food,  but  was  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  obstruction  by  ORGANIC  im- 
perfection of  the  avenues  through  which  the 
energy  of  the  body  is  expressed.  In  this 
chapter  medical  evidence  in  cases  of  death 
from  alleged  starvation  is  compared  with 
first-hand  knowledge  obtained  in  applying 
the  fast  for  the  cure  of  disease,  and  from 
post  mortem  examination  of  the  bodies  of 
patients  who  died  while  under  treatment. 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  cessation  of 
life  is  discovered  in  the  fact  that  the  brain 
becomes  unable,  through  disease  or  shock, 
to  draw  upon  its  reserve  store  of  sustenance 

295 


FASTING 


for  structural  maintenance.  Some  paralyz- 
ing influence  prevents  nourishment  of  nerve 
centers  and  shuts  off  the  life  current.  No 
agent  more  destructive  of  both  physical  and 
mental  functions  exists  than  unreasoning 
fear,  and  it  plays  its  part  in  accidental  sit- 
uations where  food  is  denied,  such  as  mine 
disasters,  shipwrecks,  and  the  like,  since  here 
mental  suffering  affects  the  physical  bal- 
ance, and  the  cause  of  death  lies  in  the  con- 
ditions of  the  circumstances,  and  not  in  the 
fact  that  the  body  is  deprived  of  food,  for, 
in  favorable  surroundings,  weeks  and  even 
months  may  pass  ere  death  occur  from  lack 
of  sustenance. 

It  is  questionable  whether,  in  a  conscious 
being  not  afflicted  with  organic  defect,  or  not 
situated  so  that  food  cannot  be  supplied 
when  hunger  calls,  death  has  ever  resulted 
from  starvation,  or,  in  other  words,  from 
the  exhaustion  of  brain  food  stored  in  body 
tissue.  No  conclusive  evidence  shows  that 
this  has  ever  happened. 

The  autopsies  that  were  held  upon  the 
bodies  of  the  patients,  of  whom  the  causes 
of  death  are  here  described,  disclosed  in 
every  instance  organic  disease,  the  origin 
of  which  lay  in  the  earlier  years  of  life.  In 

996 


DEATH     IN     THE     FAST 

most  of  these  bodies,  arrested  development 
of  one  or  more  of  the  vital  organs  was 
found,  and  in  all  of  them  defective  intestines 
displayed  cartilaginous  structure  and  mal- 
formation that  must  have  required  either 
acute  inflammation  or  continued  functional 
disturbance  to  produce.  These  cases  cover 
subjects  who  had  followed  orthodox  methods 
until  orthodoxy  proved  of  no  avail,  and  who 
then  turned  to  the  fast  and  its  accompani- 
ments. Hence  it  is  certain  that  erroneous 
diet,  with  subsequent  lowered  nutrition,  oc- 
curring in  the  developing  period  of  life  and 
later,  together  with  the  baneful  effects  of 
drugs  administered  in  the  attempt  to  remedy 
disease,  were  responsible  for  the  fatal  issue. 
Nature  had  endowed  each  of  these  patients 
at  birth  with  normal  vitality;  each  of  them 
had  suffered  in  early  life  from  severe  func- 
tional disorder;  and  each,  with  one  exception, 
had  been  drug-drenched. 

Broadly  speaking,  there  is  no  drug  that  is 
not  a  poison,  stimulating  or  paralyzing  in 
its  effect;  and,  while  harm  ensues  when 
drugs  are  employed  for  the  treatment  of 
disease  in  mature  years,  the  consequences  of 
applying  ordinary  medical  remedies  in  in- 
fancy and  in  youth  are  doubly  apparent  and 

997 


FASTING 


appalling.  It  is  only  necessary  to  draw  the 
parallel  between  the  results  of  administering 
brandy  to  a  child  and  to  an  adult  to  em- 
phasize this  statement.  What,  then,  must 
follow  in  the  event  of  repeated  dosage  for 
fever,  colic,  colds,  and  the  varied  category 
of  infantile  disease?  And  what  are  the  ef- 
fects of  this  treatment  upon  growing  human 
bodies?  Not  one  of  us  but  has  the  sacred 
relics  of  the  day  of  powdered  dried  toads  to 
blame  for  organs  functionally  disordered, 
arrested  in  development,  or  wholly  ruined. 

Repeating  the  distinction: — 

Starvation  is  the  consequence  of  food  de- 
nied, either  by  accident  or  design,  to  a 
system  clamoring  for  sustenance. 

Fasting  consists  in  intentional  abstinence 
from  food  by  a  system  diseased,  and,  as  a 
result,  non-desirous  of  sustenance  until 
rested,  cleansed,  and  again  ready  for  the 
labor  of  digestion.  Then,  and  not  till  then, 
is  food  supplied.  Then,  and  not  till  then, 
does  starvation  begin.  The  law  of  hunger 
draws  the  line  of  demarcation. 

It  may  be  repeated  that,  in  functional 
disease,  the  fast  can  be  carried  to  its  logical 
end  without  a,  particle  of  anxiety,  because 
the  law  of  hunger  marks  the  limit  beyond 

298 


DEATH     IN     THE     FAST 

which  abstinence  cannot  continue  lest  the 
body  die.  Hence,  death  from  starvation  is 
impossible  in  a  fast  properly  applied,  when 
it  is  conducted  for  the  cure  of  disease  not 
organic.  Hunger  must  return,  and  food 
must  be  supplied.  The  result  in  the  presence 
of  structural  defect  is  not  assured.  When 
the  latter  is  of  slight  degree,  repair  is  pos- 
sible and  recovery  will  follow;  but,  when  the 
faults  are  such  that  functioning  of  one  or 
more  organs  is  prevented,  no  hope  of  cure 
exists,  although,  by  lessening  the  strain  upon 
other  vital  parts,  life  may  be  prolonged  and 
distress  relieved. 

Eleven  instances  of  death  occurring  while 
the  fast  or  a  course  of  diet  was  in  progress 
are  quoted  because  of  the  light  they  cast 
upon  the  diagnosis  of  disease  when  natural 
methods  are  applied,  and  because  of  the 
exposition  made  by  the  autopsies  of  the 
effects  of  erroneous  diet  and  of  drug  treat- 
ment upon  the  human  body.  In  each  case 
it  is  shown  conclusively  that  the  cause  of 
death  was  organic  disease  beyond  repair, 
and  that,  at  the  stage  reached  when  the  fast 
was  undertaken,  no  means  of  cure  could  have 
brought  about  recovery.  Two  of  the  deaths 
described  occurred  while  the  patients  were 


FASTING 

dieting,  not  fasting,  but  the  conditions  in 
these  show  no  contrast,  excepting  in  respect 
to  food  or  its  omission.  Death  was  certain, 
fasting  or  feeding.  This  list  of  eleven  deaths 
is  selected  from  a  total  of  eighteen,  the  latter 
figure  comprising  all  the  fatalities  of  sixteen 
years  of  the  practice  of  fasting  for  the  cure 
of  disease.  The  number  of  cases  treated 
during  this  time  reaches  nearly  two  thousand, 
five  hundred,  each  of  whom  fasted  continu- 
ously for  periods  varying  in  duration  from 
eight  to  seventy-five  days.  The  death  rate 
is  thus  seen  to  be  about  seven-tenths  of  one 
per  cent. 

CASE  1.  A  married  woman,  38  years 
of  age,  who  had  devoted  twenty  years  of  her 
life  in  vain  attempt  to  enjoy  normal  exist- 
ence under  medical  treatment,  finally  ascer- 
tained that  periods  of  dieting  and  of 
abstinence  from  food  were  the  only  means 
whereby  she  could  obtain  relief.  At  con- 
sultation a  perilous  condition  indicating  the 
presence  of  organic  disease  was  evident,  and 
careful  dieting  and  the  employment  of  the 
hygienic  accompaniments  of  the  treatment 
were  prescribed  and  continued  until  six 
months  later.  At  this  time  the  patient,  with 

300 


DEATH     IN     THE     FAST 

full  realization  of  the  gratifying  relief  that 
invariably  appears  in  disease  when  organic 
labor  is  lessened  by  judiciously  lowered  diet 
or  by  abstinence  from  food,  and,  although 
advised  of  doubtful  issue,  insisted  upon 
entering  a  complete  fast. 

After  three  weeks  of  gradual  reduction  in 
food  quantity,  the  total  abstinence  stage  was 
reached,  and  greater  relief  was  at  once 
experienced.  On  the  twentieth  day  of  the 
fast  the  patient  decided  for  herself  that  the 
stomach  could  once  more  tolerate  food. 
Observation  demonstrates  that  patients  who 
have  suffered  for  many  years  from  chronic 
functional  troubles  or  from  organic  disease, 
and  who  are  constantly  hoping  for  cure,  have 
developed,  as  a  consequence  of  repeated  dis- 
appointment, a  disposition  stubborn  and 
willful.  They  instinctively  distrust  the  hand 
that  may  prove  the  means  of  recovery,  and 
it  is  a  question  whether  the  better  policy  lies 
in  acquiescence  or  in  resistance  to  their 
expressed  desires.  In  this  instance  no  oppo- 
sition was  offered  to  the  demand  for  food, 
and  vegetable  broths  were  given.  The 
organs  of  digestion,  as  was  plainly  evident 
to  the  trained  mind,  could  not  have  reached 
the  cleansed  and  rested  state  that  would 

301 


FASTING 


permit  them  to  resume  their  labors,  and  the 
administration  of  food  resulted  in  nausea 
with  vomiting,  outward  symptoms  of  organ- 
ic inability  to  handle  even  the  small  amount 
ingested.  Hiccoughs  in  severe  form,  a  sign 
most  apprehensive  in  character  and  usually 
indicative  of  intestinal  obstruction,  were  also 
in  evidence,  and  continued  persistently  at 
intervals  until  death  intervened. 

When  a  case  such  as  this  exhibits  the 
symptoms  noted  in  aggravated  form,  and 
when,  moreover,  its  history  shows  years  of 
constant  suffering,  it  is  a  virtual  certainty 
that  organic  defects  exist  that  can  in  no  wise 
be  overcome.  But,  to  allay  the  anxiety  of 
the  members  of  the  family,  the  condition  of 
the  patient  was  brought  to  the  attention  of 
several  medical  practitioners,  who  could 
suggest  nothing,  for  the  stomach  rejected 
nourishment,  and  great  difficulty  was  exper- 
ienced even  in  the  retention  of  water.  This 
state  continued  for  more  than  two  weeks, 
with  pulse  and  temperature  at  average  nor- 
mal, but  with  no  material  improvement.  As 
a  final  resort,  a  consultation  of  medical  men 
was  called.  Their  unanimous  diagnosis, 
based  upon  the  color  of  the  bowel  discharges, 
named  the  disease  symptom  as  cancer,  and 

302 


DEATH     IN     THE     FAST 

the  outcome  of  the  case  was  by  them  also 
pronounced  hopeless.  Inaccuracy  in  medical 
judgment  is  well  exemplified  by  comparison 
of  this  diagnosis  with  the  findings  of  the  post 
mortem  examination  which  followed.  Death 
came  at  the  end  of  the  fortieth  day  of  abstin- 
ence from  food. 

The  autopsy  made  known  a  condition  that 
the  symptoms  had  predicted.  The  stomach 
occupied  a  position  in  the  abdominal  cavity 
such  that  its  pyloric  opening  was  turned  for- 
ward and  downward  six  or  seven  inches;  the 
lower  surface  of  the  organ  lay  opposite  the 
navel,  and  its  normal  shape  was  enlarged 
and  distorted  to  a  capacity  of  six  fluid  quarts 
and  to  a  length  of  nearly  two  feet.  The 
small  intestines  at  numerous  points  were 
adherent  to  the  walls  of  the  peritoneum,  and 
the  stomach  itself  had  to  be  cut  from  the 
same  surface  in  order  to  expose  its  whole 
extent.  The  medical  history  of  this  case 
notes  an  attack  of  typhoid  fever,  complicated 
with  peritonitis,  about  twelve  years  before 
death.  This  undoubtedly  determines  the 
date  of  the  visceral  adhesions,  and,  in  all 
probability,  that  of  the  distortions  in  stomach 
and  intestines.  In  attempting  to  overcome 
conditions,  the  gall  bladder  had  enlarged  to 

908 


FASTING 


the  size  of  a  pint  measure,  while  the  liver 
was  utterly  disintegrated. 

In  the  abnormal  physical  existence  of  this 
woman  medicine  had  rendered  no  assistance, 
but  rather  the  reverse,  and  as  years  passed, 
disease  grew  greater.  Before  the  fast,  bilious 
discharges  and  weakened  heart  action  were 
symptoms  that  never  varied  except  to  in- 
crease in  intensity.  The  fast  disclosed  from 
its  first  day  immense  quantities  of  vile,  black 
filth  that  had  been  stored  within  the  body, 
with  the  result  that,  from  its  beginning  until 
just  before  death,  the  case  showed  decided 
relief  and  lessened  pain.  There  was,  however, 
no  decrease  in  the  amount  of  waste  revealed 
at  each  application  of  the  enema,  and  finally 
nature  indicated  that  organic  trouble  defy- 
ing repair  existed,  and  that  death  was 
inevitable. 

At  the  time  when  typhoid  symptoms 
appeared,  all  of  the  organs  of  the  body  of 
this  patient  had  fully  matured,  but  the  treat- 
ment of  the  fever  and  inflammation  with 
drugs,  while  feeding  was  in  constant  prog- 
ress, led  to  the  formation  of  the  organic 
lesions  described,  to  which  is  directly  trace- 
able the  fatal  issue  of  the  case. 


304 


DEATH     IN     THE     FAST 

CASE  2  is  that  of  a  married  woman,  39 
years  old,  who  had  been  a  sufferer  from 
disease  for  all  of  the  adult  period  of  life, 
and  who  had  subsisted  upon  a  diet  of  liquids 
for  two  years  previous  to  death.  Since  girl- 
hood, she  had  been  treated  without  drugs 
(which  she  refused)  by  many  different  phy- 
sicians for  stomach  derangement,  but  with- 
out success.  Her  condition  grew  worse 
month  by  month,  until,  in  sheer  despair,  the 
fast  was  invoked,  and,  while  death  occurred 
at  the  end  of  fifty-seven  days,  the  relief 
experienced  leads  to  the  expressed  opinion 
that  the  treatment  prolonged  life  for  some 
weeks. 

When  the  body  was  examined  after  death, 
the  condition  revealed  was  this: — In  the 
duodenum,  just  below  the  pyloric  opening 
of  the  stomach,  there  must  at  one  time  have 
existed  an  ulcer  or  acute  inflammation. 
Nature  in  her  efforts  at  repair  had  deposited 
tissue  cells  at  this  point  to  the  degree  that 
the  entire  lumen  of  the  intestine  had  finally 
been  obstructed  with  the  growth.  There  was 
no  evidence  of  the  characteristic  cell  forma- 
tion of  cancer,  but  merely  that  of  an  accu- 
mulation of  tissue  that  occluded  the  gut. 
The  right  kidney  was  in  a  state  of  complete 

305    • 


FASTING 


disintegration,  but  the  other  organs,  and  the 
intestines  throughout,  with  the  exception  of 
the  portion  named,  were  normal  in  size  and 
position.  Until  a  year  or  more  preceding 
death  there  may  have  been  a  small  passage 
through  the  growth  described,  but  this  had 
finally  closed,  and  the  woman  had  lived  only 
by  the  absorption  of  such  liquid  food  as  she 
could  ingest  and  retain.  The  condition  of 
the  major  portion  of  the  intestines  as  to  size 
and  position  is  affirmative  proof  that  the 
patient  had  never  been  subjected  to  drug 
dosage  in  the  developing  period  of  life.  In 
this  respect  this  case  cannot  parallel  the  one 
first  cited,  for  in  it  drugs  had  played  a  disas- 
trous part,  and  were  the  direct  cause  of  the 
deformation  of  the  digestive  tract.  Here 
the  defect  was  occasioned  by  natural  pro- 
cesses operating  for  local  repair. 

CASE  3.  A  young  married  woman  of 
24s  had  been  since  maturity  a  sufferer  from 
severe  intestinal  troubles,  and  from  acute 
bilious  symptoms.  She  had  been  medically 
treated  for  so-called  appendicitis  four  years 
before  her  death,  and  an  operation  had  been 
advised,  but  to  this  she  refused  to  submit. 
In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note 

306 


DEATH     IN     THE     FAST 

that  the  autopsy  on  this  body  disclosed  an 
appendix  in  normal  state,  with  no  signs  of 
former  inflammation. 

Eight  months  before  death  the  patient  had 
undergone  a  fast  of  twenty-eight  days  and 
had  convalesced  into  the  most  satisfactory 
physical  condition  that  she  had  known  since 
childhood.  During  the  time  of  this  fast  and 
thereafter  she  cared  for  a  young  baby,  and 
continued  to  do  so  until  acute  bilious  de- 
rangement, accompanied  by  symptoms  of 
organic  disease,  was  manifested.  The  case 
fasted  until  death  an  even  sixty  days,  and 
it  was  found,  after  a  few  weeks  of  abstinence, 
that  pregnancy  of  several  months  added 
somewhat  to  the  complications  that  arose. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  fast  excessively 
foul  black  discharges  came  away  with  the 
enemas,  and  there  was  a  constant,  slight 
daily  rise  in  temperature,  which,  however, 
was  invariably  reduced  to  average  normal 
after  the  administration  of  the  internal  bath. 

At  the  post  mortem  examination  it  was 
discovered  that  the  liver  was  in  a  condition 
of  complete  disintegration;  the  stomach  ex- 
hibited an  extreme  hour-glass  contraction, 
and  its  pyloric  opening  would  not  permit  the 
insertion  of  a  lead  pencil,  nor  could  it  be 

307 


FASTING 


stretched  without  tearing,  on  account  of  the 
hardened  nature  of  its  walls ;  the  small  intes- 
tines and  the  colon  throughout  their  length 
displayed  a  series  of  cartilaginous  contrac- 
tions. In  this  instance  these  contractions 
were  formed  after  full  development  to  adult 
life  had  taken  place.  They  undoubtedly 
were  the  results  of  powerful  drugs  adminis- 
tered from  time  to  time  after  the  eighteenth 
year,  since  all  other  portions  of  the  intestines 
were  of  normal  size.  The  fetus  was  removed 
from  the  uterus  at  the  autopsy  and  was 
found  to  be  in  perfect  condition,  exhibiting 
the  normal  development  of  an  unborn  child 
of  four  months. 

CASE  4,  that  of  a  married  woman  of  85, 
was  similar  in  many  respects  to  the  one 
preceding.  This  patient  fasted  fifty-nine 
days  from  the  beginning  of  illness  until 
death,  and  the  case  was  complicated  with  an 
extra-uterine  pregnancy  in  the  right  Fallo- 
pian tube,  which  aggravated  conditions  until 
the  fetus  was  prematurely  delivered.  The 
whole  adult  life  of  this  woman  had  been 
made  wretched  by  digestive  disturbance, 
bilious  attacks,  and  menstrual  difficulties. 
Drugs  and  patent  medicines  had  done  their 

308 


worst  until  two  years  before  death,  when,  in 
hopeless  apathy,  the  patient  consented  to 
undergo  a  fast,  and  completed  one  of  thirty 
days  with  such  success  that  she  experienced 
entire  relief  from  the  menstrual  pain  there- 
after, and  had  no  digestive  distress  unless 
careless  in  diet. 

The  cause  that  compelled  the  patient  to 
enter  a  second  fast  lay  in  organic  disease  that 
had  progressed  to  the  point  that  the  func- 
tions became  inoperative.  Disintegration  of 
the  liver  must  have  existed  for  some  time 
previous  to  the  beginning  of  the  fast,  for 
from  its  first  day  large  amounts  of  black 
bilious  discharge  came  away  in  the  enemas. 
The  condition  gradually  became  so  aggra- 
vated that  the  thought  of  food  was  nauseat- 
ing, and  its  odor  and  even  the  perfume  of 
flowers  could  not  be  borne.  This  was  also 
true  of  the  second  case  cited.  Organic  defect 
existed  when  the  former  fast  took  place,  and 
its  symptoms  were  present  at  that  time,  but 
the  organs,  recuperated  by  their  enforced 
rest,  were  enabled  to  continue  partial  func- 
tioning for  some  months  longer. 

In  this  second  fast  pulse  and  temperature 
rose  above  normal  several  beats  and  degrees 
each  day  between  the  administrations  of  the 

309 


FASTING 

enema,  but  invariably  fell  to  register  after 
the  internal  bath,  which  was  given  twice 
daily.  The  fact  of  an  extra-uterine  preg- 
nancy having  been  determined  about  the 
third  week  of  the  fast,  it  was  discovered  on 
the  forty-first  day  that  contractions  of  the 
uterus  were  occurring;  the  os  was  dilated, 
and  it  was  evident  that  an  attempt  was  in 
progress  to  deliver  the  forming  child  through 
natural  channels.  By  outside  and  inside 
manipulation  of  the  uterus,  a  dead,  mis- 
shapen fetus  was  finally  removed  with  little 
or  no  pain.  General  relief  was  instantaneous, 
and  was  of  such  nature  as  to  offer  hope  of 
ultimate  recovery,  but  it  lasted  only  a  few 
days,  when  a  decline  set  in  that  ended  in 
death  on  the  fifty-ninth  day  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fast. 

Hiccoughs  in  mild  form  were  present  at 
times  during  the  latter  days  of  fasting,  and 
there  was  some  vomiting  of  black  bile.  It 
was  useless  to  attempt  feeding  at  any  stage, 
for,  from  the  first,  the  stomach  rejected  food 
and  water,  and  the  only  fluid  that  the  body 
received  during  the  period  named  was  ob- 
tained from  the  internal  and  external  baths. 

The  post  mortem  findings  follow: — The 
liver  was  in  such  state  of  disintegration  that 
sio 


DEATH     IN     THE     FAST 

even  the  slightest  functioning  could  not  have 
occurred  for  months.  The  gall  cyst  was  at 
least  four  times  its  normal  size  and  contained 
black  bilious  fluid.  The  kidneys  were  hyper- 
trophied  and  pocketed  with  pus.  The  pan- 
creas likewise  was  hypertrophied  and  was  so 
hardened  in  texture  as  to  resist  the  knife. 
The  spleen  was  disintegrated  to  the  extent 
that  it  was  held  together  merely  by  its  sur- 
rounding membrane.  The  small  intestines 
were  normal  in  size  and  position,  as  was  the 
colon,  excepting  the  transverse  portion  of 
the  latter,  which  had  dropped  below  the  navel 
and  was  no  larger  in  diameter  than  an  adult 
thumb.  The  right  ovary  contained  a  cyst 
filled  with  serous  fluid,  and  the  right  Fallo- 
pian tube  was  bent  twice  upon  itself.  The 
left  ovary  was  in  a  state  of  atrophy  and  was 
no  larger  than  a  lima  bean.  The  heart  and 
the  lungs  were  normal. 

CASE  5  is  that  of  a  man  of  24  who  had 
been  syphilitically  infected  five  years  before 
his  death,  and  had  treated  the  symptoms 
medically  and  with  advertised  nostrums.  At 
the  time  of  consultation  the  syphilitic  sores 
still  remained,  and  there  were  other  evidences 
of  the  ravages  of  the  blood  taint  present  as 

311 


FASTING 

well.  Among  the  latter  was  a  loss  of  mental 
control  that  compelled  the  family  of  the 
patient  to  employ  a  keeper  for  the  youth. 
About  six  months  before  death  a  fast  of 
twenty-eight  days  was  undertaken  and  suc- 
cessfully accomplished.  The  syphilitic  sores 
were  completely  eradicated  at  its  completion, 
and  relief  in  general  was  such  that  the 
patient  was  enabled  to  dispense  with  his 
attendant  and  thereafter  cared  for  himself. 
But  some  months  later  the  signs  of  organic 
disease,  including  loss  of  mental  control, 
again  became  apparent.  From  this  time 
•there  was  a  copious  discharge  of  watery 
mucus  from  the  nasal  passages  and  throat, 
and  a  constant,  profuse  exudation  of  sweat 
about  the  face  and  the  head.  The  latter 
symptom  was  present  in  such  degree  that  the 
hair  of  the  patient  dripped  moisture  con- 
tinuously and  his  pillow  needed  changing 
every  hour.  Quantities  of  solid  f  eces  and  of 
catarrhal  mucus  appeared  in  the  enemas, 
and  for  a  month  before  death  speech  was 
impossible  and  no  function  could  be  per- 
formed without  assistance.  During  the  last 
nineteen  days  of  life  no  food  was  ingested. 
The  post  mortem  findings  showed  a  brain, 
the  right  hemisphere  of  which  was  softened 

312 


DEATH     IX     THE     FAST 

and  pus-laden.  The  left  hemisphere  was 
structurally  normal.  The  right  jugular  vein 
was  filled  with  a  whitish  hardened  mineral 
deposit,  but  the  heart  was  in  normal  condi- 
tion. The  right  lung  had  atrophied  and  was. 
in  a  state  of  embolism;  it  was  virtually  a 
solid  mass  of  blood  clots  and  was  useless  as 
an  organ.  The  left  lung  was  normal.  The 
liver  was  partially  disintegrated.  In  this 
case  no  abnormality  existed  in  the  entire 
length  of  the  alimentary  canal,  and  the  kid- 
neys, the  pancreas,  and  the  spleen  were  in 
functioning  condition. 

CASE  6,  that  of  a  man  46  years  of  age, 
presents  a  physical  history  of  intermittent 
suff ering.  As  the  result  of  an  accident  in 
childhood,  in  which  the  patient  was  internally 
injured,  both  youth  and  early  manhood  were 
filled  with  a  succession  of  acute  illnesses, 
which  were  treated  in  orthodox  manner  with- 
out permanent  alleviation.  About  fifteen 
years  before  death,  the  patient  abandoned 
medicine  and  turned  to  the  natural  or  drug- 
less  method  of  cure,  with  the  outcome  that 
the  first  physical  relief  of  permanence  was 
obtained.  Three  years  before  his  last  illness 
acute  disease  again  appeared,  and,  because 

313 


F  A  S  T I N  G 


of  peculiar  circumstances,  medical  treatment 
was  resorted  to  for  a  short  time  but  without 
benefit.  Reverted  to  finally,  the  fast  and  its 
accompaniments  succeeded  in  relieving  con- 
.ditions  to  such  degree  that  in  fourteen  days 
the  patient  was  able  to  resume  the  practice 
of  his  profession.  Although  suffering  at 
intervals  from  that  time  on,  there  was  no 
return  of  acute  symptoms  until  the  month 
preceding  death,  when,  after  unwonted  phy- 
sical exercise,  followed  by  a  heavy  meal,  se- 
vere pains  in  the  intestines  developed.  The 
stomach  rejected  food;  within  a  week  drink- 
ing of  water  brought  on  nausea;  and  the 
point  was  soon  reached  when  any  attempt 
at  the  administration  of  sustenance  occa- 
sioned excruciating  pain.  This  condition 
continued  for  thirty  days,  at  the  end  of 
which  death  occurred. 

The  post  mortem  examination  showed 
most  abnormal  characteristics  in  the  vital 
organs.  The  lungs  were  adherent  at  every 
point  to  the  walls  of  the  pleural  cavity  and 
to  the  diaphragm.  The  heart  was  in  fair 
condition.  The  stomach  was  dilated  and 
prolapsed.  The  gall  bladder  exhibited  three 
distinct  pouches,  any  one  of  which  was  the 
size  of  a  normal  sac,  and  two  of  these  sections 

314- 


DEATH     IN     THE     FAST 

were  filled  with  one  hundred  and  twenty-six 
stones,  one  measuring  four  inches  in  circum- 
ference. The  small  intestines  were  collapsed 
to  the  pelvis  and  were  intussuscepted  midway 
in  their  lower  portion  so  that  two  yards  of 
their  length  were  telescoped  into  five  inches, 
and  this  part  measured  in  diameter  of  lumen 
only  one-quarter  inch.  All  of  the  small 
intestines  were  below  normal  in  size;  the 
transverse  colon  lay  in  front  of  the  descend- 
ing bowel,  an  abnormality  which  largely 
increased  the  labor  of  disposing  of  body 
waste;  the  ascending  and  descending  por- 
tions of  the  colon  showed  lack  of  develop- 
ment and  were  cartilaginous  in  structure; 
the  sigmoid  bend  and  the  rectum  were  of 
diameter  not  to  exceed  that  of  an  adult 
thumb,  and  were  also  in  advanced  cartilagin- 
ous state ;  the  kidneys,  the  liver,  the  pancreas, 
and  the  spleen  were  all  in  a  condition  of 
partial  atrophy;  the  brain  and  the  nerve 
centers  showed  no  deterioration. 

An  excuse  for  surgical  intervention  some- 
times exists,  and  here  was  a  case  in  which 
a  condition  requiring  internal  adjustment 
was  presented  at  the  time  of  the  accident 
noted  in  its  history.  Neglected  then,  life 
was  prolonged  by  nature  in  spite  of  the 

315 


FASTING 


handicap  of  physical  defect,  but  at  cost  of 
constant  suffering. 

CASE  7,  that  of  a  man  56  years  of  age, 
exhibits  a  history  of  continuous  disease  in 
youth,  but  includes  at  least  twenty  years  of 
later  life  devoted  to  diet,  to  the  fast,  and  to 
hygienic  attention  to  the  body.  In  fact  this 
part  of  the  man's  existence  was  distinguished 
by  work  along  all  lines  of  progressive 
thought.  At  the  time  that  the  case  was 
presented,  the  patient  was  aware  that,  despite 
all  efforts  at  conservation  of  health,  his 
condition  was  such  that  he  must  have 
recourse  to  every  means  of  assistance  that 
nature  could  suggest,  or  he  must  succumb 
to  the  inevitable.  After  examination,  with 
the  discovery  that  the  symptoms  showed 
marked  organic  disturbance,  it  was  agreed 
that  but  one  hope  of  recovery  remained,  and 
that  this  lay  in  a  complete  fast.  By  it  would 
be  determined  either  the  ability  of  the  vital 

tf 

organs  to  continue  functioning,  or  the  assur- 
ance that  the  human  machine  had  reached  a 
point  where  life  could  be  no  longer  main- 
tained. 

The  fast  began,  and  there  was  no  marked 
disturbance  until  the  twenty-first  day,  while 

316 


relief  was  such  that  the  patient  regarded  his 
case  as  one  that  showed  constant  and  per- 
manent improvement;  but,  after  this  date 
and  during  the  succeeding  ten  days,  the 
symptoms  became  unfavorable,  and  upon  the 
thirty-second  day  he  sank  into  a  comatose  state 
in  which  he  lay  until  by  manipulation  an 
abscess  in  the  nasal  cavity  was  with  difficulty 
discharged.  This  release  of  foul  pus  eased 
the  patient ;  he  became  conscious  and  assisted 
with  interest  in  the  efforts  being  made  to 
promote  his  recovery. 

This  case  fasted  thirty-eight  days  until 
death.  At  all  times  large  amounts  of  mucus 
were  discharged  from  the  colon  in  the  ene- 
mas, while  pain,  sometimes  of  an  excruciat- 
ing character,  was  felt  in  the  region  of  the 
bladder.  In  the  later  stages  of  the  fast  and 
just  before  death,  pus  in  abundance  was 
present  in  the  urine,  and  in  the  last  few 
days  of  life  the  urinary  organs  were  utterly 
unable  to  evacuate  the  contents  of  the  blad- 
der, for  which  purpose  an  irrigating  bougie 
had  to  be  employed.  In  spite  of  the  quantity 
of  refuse  stored  within  this  body,  muscular 
strength  was  exhibited  in  remarkable  degree 
during  the  fast  and  until  the  day  of  death. 
The  patient  was  able  at  all  times  to  move 

317 


FASTING 


himself  in  bed,  to  rise  at  intervals,  and  to 
help  himself  in  ways  that  seemed  marvelous 
when  his  physical  condition  was  considered. 
The  results  of  the  autopsy  follow: — The 
brain,  weighing  forty-eight  and  one-half 
ounces,  filled  the  entire  cavity  of  the  skull, 
and  was  perfect  in  structure.  These  facts 
add  corroborative  evidence  to  the  truth  of 
the  theory  advanced  by  Dr.  E.  H.  Dewey, 
and  developed  by  all  who  have -given  time 
and  practical  thought  to  the  treatment  of 
disease  by  the  fast,  viz.,  that,  in  a  fast,  nerve 
tissue  is  never  depleted  since  its  supply  of 
nourishment  is  gained  directly  from  body 
reserve  and  not  from  food  ingested.  The 
lungs  were  in  excellent  condition;  the  heart, 
organically  speaking,  was  perfect,  but  was 
filled  with  a  gelatinous  mass  of  serum 
affected  by  post  mortem  change;  from  the 
cardiac  opening  of  the  stomach  to  within 
two  inches  of  the  pylorus  there  was  not  one 
particle  of  healthy  muscular  tissue,  and  the 
appearance  of  the  walls  of  the  organ  was 
that  of  smooth,  wet  chamois  skin;  the  duo- 
denum was  below  normal  in  size,  but  the 
upper  portion  of  the  jejunum  was  consider- 
ably dilated;  about  midway  in  the  tube  of 
the  small  intestine  a  downward  intussuscep- 

318 


tion  had  taken  place,  in  length  about  two 
and  one-half  inches ;  this  was  of  long-stand- 
ing, since  the  walls  of  the  bowel  had  become 
cartilaginous  and  thickened,  and  in  so  doing 
had  closed  the  opening  of  the  gut  so  that  it 
would  have  been  difficult  to  insert  a  lead 
pencil  into  the  passage;  the  only  section  of 
the  colon  that  was  in  a  natural  state  was  the 
cecum,  but  thence  to  the  rectum  the  organ 
was  of  infantile  proportion;  in  fact,  there 
was  not  one  inch  of  this  part  of  the  bowel 
into  which  the  end  of  an  index  finger  could 
have  been  introduced;  the  sigmoid  flexure 
was  less  deveolped  than  any  other  portion  of 
the  gut ;  its  bent  form  was  absent,  and  it  had 
become  merely  a  straight,  vertical  canal  con- 
tinuing the  descending  colon  to  the  anus; 
the  liver  was  badly  congested,  with  its  left 
lobe  partially  cirrhosed,  but  its  functions  had 
probably  been  performed  with  better  success 
than  those  of  the  other  digestive  organs ;  the 
gall  bladder  was  distended  with  bile;  the 
pancreas  was  extremely  small,  and  the  spleen 
was  that  of  an  infant;  the  kidneys  were  dis- 
integrated and  pocketed  with  pus,  which 
discharged  through  the  ureters  into  an  in- 
flamed and  congested  bladder;  the  latter 
was  very  undeveloped  and  held  within  its 

319 


FASTING 


thickened  walls  barely  three  ounces  of  liquid. 

The  conditions  recited  were  not  the  results 
of  a  fast  of  thirty-eight  days,  but  were  those 
of  disease  and  subsequent  arrested  develop- 
ment in  early  life.  While  there  may  have 
been  a  lack  of  general  physical  growth  in  the 
individual,  some  paralyzing  agent  intro- 
duced from  without  was  responsible  for  the 
marked  deformity  found  in  the  intestines. 

In  view  of  the  undeveloped  and  mechanic- 
ally inadequate  state  of  the  digestive  tract, 
it  is  interesting  to  record  that  the  sexual 
organs  of  this  man  were  those  of  a  boy.  He 
was  under  height  and  boyish  in  appearance 
as  well.  Nervous  shock  presumably  received 
through  drugs  administered  in  infancy 
caused  functional  paralysis  and  arrested 
growth  of  the  digestive  organs,  and  general 
development  suffered  in  consequence. 

CASE  8,  that  of  a  young  man  of  22, 
suffered  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life  from 
acute  indigestion  attended  with  distressing 
symptoms  of  an  apoplectic  kind.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  fast  the  enemas  brought 
away  merely  colored  water,  but  general 
relief  was  felt  until  the  twentieth  day  of 
abstinence.  Then  a  profuse  hemorrhage 


DEATH    IN    THE    FAST 

from  the  nose  occurred,  indicating  obstructed 
circulation,  and,  after  the  twenty-second 
day,  the  patient  kept  his  bed  with  nose-bleed 
and  hiccoughs  intermittently  present.  At 
this  stage  of  the  treatment  the  latter  symp- 
tom in  severe  form  is  conclusive  of  organic 
defect,  and  three  days  before  death,  when  the 
hiccoughing  had  become  continuous,  the 
patient  sank  into  coma  and  never  regained 
consciousness.  He  died  forty-nine  days 
from  the  beginning  of  the  fast. 

From  the  twenty-first  day  quantities  of 
black  bile  were  vomited,  which,  as  are  hic- 
coughs, is  a  sign  that  intestinal  obstruction 
exists,  and  this  diagnosis  was  completely 
corroborated  by  the  autopsy.  Ten  feet  of 
the  upper  portion  of  the  small  intestine 
proved  to  have  been  arrested  in  growth  in 
childhood,  and  the  walls  of  the  organ  were  of 
cartilaginous  nature.  In  the  duodenum  was 
discovered  an  accumulation  of  hard  tissue, 
similar  to  that  described  in  CASE  2,  which 
entirely  closed  the  bowel.  No  food  material 
could  possibly  have  passed  this  point  for 
months  previous  to  the  fast.  The  presence 
of  this  abnormal  formation  explains  two 
facts  observed  in  the  case:  the  first,  that  the 
patient  had  been  compelled  to  subsist  for  a 

321 


FASTING 


year  before  his  last  illness  upon  liquids  alone ; 
the  second,  the  absence  of  solid  particles  in 
the  returned  fluid  of  the  enemas.  Repair  of 
body  tissue  had  been  accomplished  but  imper- 
fectly by  absorption  through  stomach  walls 
and  those  of  the  short  length  of  upper  intes- 
tine that  might  have  functioned.  The  colon 
at  both  bends  was  contracted  so  that  it  was 
barely  possible  to  insert  a  finger  into  the 
lumen,  and  the  right  bend  had  adhered  to  the 
transverse  portion  of  the  organ  in  such  man- 
ner as  to  form  a  loop.  The  kidneys  were 
greatly  congested;  the  gall  cyst  was  much 
enlarged;  the  pancreas  and  the  spleen  were, 
however,  normal;  adhesions  of  both  upper 
and  lower  bowels  to  the  walls  of  the  peri- 
toneal cavity  had  formed  at  frequent 
intervals. 

In  tracing  the  medical  histoiy  of  the  case, 
it  was  later  discovered  that,  at  seven  years 
of  age,  a  severe  fever  accompanied  by 
inflammation  of  the  intestines  had  been 
treated  medically  with  opiates,  and  the  heart 
action,  as  is  usual  in  cases  of  this  nature, 
had  been  stimulated  to  the  highest  degree 
with  strychnine  and  digitalis. 

CASE  9,  a  civil  engineer,  27  years  of  age, 

322 


DEATH    IN    THE    FAST 

had  suffered  since  childhood  with  acute 
digestive  ailments,  which  were  treated  as  is 
usual  in  orthodoxy.  Malnutrition  finally 
became  so  pronounced  that  the  subject 
decided  that  medicine  could  suggest  nothing 
that  would  alleviate  the  condition,  and  he 
entered  a  fast  of  his  own  volition,  coming 
for  consultation  some  days  after  its  begin- 
ning. He  died  at  the  end  of  twenty-one 
days  of  abstinence  from  food.  In  the  state 
in  which  this  patient  was  at  the  first  examina- 
tion, the  uselessness  of  attempting  to  cope 
with  the  organic  symptoms  that  were  plainly 
apparent  was  so  certain  that  it  was  deemed 
best  to  inform  him  that  recovery  was  out  of 
the  question.  Food  was  administered  at  this 
point,  but  the  stomach  was  unable  to  retain 
it,  and  repeated  trials  at  feeding  met  with  the 
same  result.  The  fast  was  perforce  con- 
tinued, and  death  came,  as  stated,  after 
twenty-one  days. 

The  post  mortem  examination  revealed  an 
interior  with  heart,  lungs,  and  digestive 
organs  so  extremely  arrested  in  development 
that,  had  it  not  been  for  the  adult  body  in 
which  they  were  enclosed,  they  would  have 
been  taken  for  the  organs  of  a  child  four 
years  of  age.  If  comment  is  needed  upon 


FASTING 


this  remarkable  combination  of  a  mature 
body  with  infantile  instruments  of  function, 
it  should  be  based  upon  the  causes  of  the 
lack  of  structural  growth  noted.  And  again 
the  conclusion  is  forced  that,  in  disease  drug- 
treated  in  early  life,  lies  the  solution. 

CASE  10,  a  man  of  34,  whose  physical 
history  had  been  one  of  constant  illness  after 
the  twentieth  year,  is  next  presented.  The 
patient  had  been  treated  medically  for  indi- 
gestion, constipation,  and  various  fevers. 
All  his  life  he  had  been  an  inveterate  user  of 
strong  tea,  and  in  later  years  fermentation, 
gas,  difficulty  in  breathing,  and  abdominal 
pain  invariably  succeeded  the  ingestion  of  a 
meal.  For  the  relief  of  these  symptoms 
medical  correctives  and  tonics  were  taken  but 
the  conditions  gradually  grew  worse.  The 
patient  finally  decided  upon  a  fast,  but, 
because  of  family  interference,  a  liquid  diet 
was  substituted  and  continued  for  thirty-five 
days,  when  death  occurred.  In  this  case 
pulse  and  temperature  before  the  fast  had 
been  habitually  below  normal,  and  they  made 
but  little  change  during  the  period  before 
death,  the  former  remaining  at  fifty-four  or 
thereabouts,  and  the  latter  so  low  that  it 

324 


DEATH    IN    THE    FAST 

could  not  be  registered  on  the  ordinary  clin- 
ical thermometer.  There  was  constant  feel- 
ing of  chilliness. 

The  autopsy  discovered  the  lungs  com- 
pletely filled  with  an  exudation  of  serous 
fluid,  a  condition  comparable  to  that  in 
croupous  pneumonia,  and  one  that  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  death.  The  body,  for 
several  weeks,  had  been  blotched  or  sinused 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  skin,  the  dilated 
veins  showing  a  circulation  obstructed,  pre- 
sumably in  the  liver.  This  symptom  is 
always  present  in  cases  of  cirrhosis  or  hard- 
ening of  the  liver,  and  the  latter  organ  on 
examination  was  found  in  an  advanced  stage 
of  atrophic  cirrhosis.  The  stomach  held  but 
eight  fluid  ounces,  and  it  could  hold  no  more, 
for  its  outside  muscular  coat  was  in  a  per- 
manent state  of  contraction,  and  the  mucus 
coats  were  very  much  thickened,  making  the 
whole  organ  at  least  one  inch  in  depth  of 
wall.  As  a  result  of  the  contraction  of  the 
outside  coating  of  the  stomach  it  had  become 
elongated  into  a  tube,  and  its  normal  capac- 
ity was  much  diminished.  The  duodenum 
and  the  upper  three  feet  of  the  small  intes- 
tine were  dilated  so  that  the  lumen  was  three 


32* 


FASTING 


inches  in  diameter,  a  structural  change  which 
suggests  the  thought  that  nature  had 
attempted  to  remedy  in  this  portion  of  the 
alimentary  canal  the  deficiency  in  size  and 
function  existing  in  the  stomach.  It  is  said 
that  cirrhosis  of  the  stomach  is  a  very  rare 
symptom  in  disease,  but  in  this  case  and  in 
the  one  that  follows,  this  organic  change  was 
present  in  forms  that  could  scarcely  have 
been  more  perfect  examples  of  their  kind. 
Below  the  dilated  section  of  the  intestines 
the  bowels,  including  the  colon,  were  appar- 
ently normal.  The  gall  bladder  was  quite 
small,  while  the  kidneys,  the  pancreas,  and 
the  spleen  all  exhibited  incipient  hardening 
of  tissue. 

CASE  11,  an  unmarried  woman  of  38, 
had  never  passed  a  year  during  infancy  and 
girlhood  free  from  acute  illness,  and  had 
been  a  sufferer  for  all  of  later  life  from 
nervous  exhaustion  that  at  frequent  intervals 
took  the  form  of  morbid  craving  for  food, 
which  had  been  greatly  increased  when  her 
medical  adviser,  about  five  years  before 
death,  prescribed  its  satisfaction  by  ordering 
her  sustenance  every  two  hours,  with  a  meal 
the  last  thing  at  night.  Excruciating  pain 

326 


DEATH    I1ST    THE    FAST 

at  the  menstrual  period  compelled  the  patient 
for  many  years  to  lose  four  or  five  days  from 
her  duties  each  month,  and  left  her  prostrate 
and  nervous  for  much  of  her  other  time. 
She  had  sought  the  world  over  for  relief,  and 
had  turned  to  the  fast  and  to  general  natural 
means  two  years  before  consultation,  but  had 
undergone  only  one  fast  of  ten  days.  Upon 
examination  there  was  no  question  that 
organic  disease  was  present,  and,  because  it 
existed  in  aggravated  form  and  no  encour- 
agement could  be  offered  in  prognosis,  it 
was  agreed  that  the  treatment  given  should 
be  aimed  solely  at  the  relief  that  a  light  diet 
would  be  certain  to  aiford.  This  course  was 
accordingly  pursued  and  the  patient  con- 
tinued upon  it  for  a  period  of  eighty  days 
when  death  occurred.  In  this  case  a  sinused 
condition  of  the  skin  of  the  face  and  body 
was  noted  when  first  seen;  the  cheeks  were 
blue  and  veined,  as  was  also  the  nose,  and 
the  whole  body  showed  deplorable  deficiency 
in  venous  circulation.  This  state  improved  to 
some  extent  after  entering  upon  the  diet 
prescribed,  but  it  was  never  wholly  corrected. 
The  examination  of  the  body  after  death 
revealed  a  liver  and  stomach  cirrhosed  in 
structure,  and  the  stomach  walls,  in  addition, 

327 


FASTING 


showed  no  evidence  of  glandular  function, 
their  surface  being  without  corrugation,  the 
mucosa  having  thickened  as  in  the  preceding 
case.  The  stomach  was  functionally  useless, 
and  its  walls  were  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
in  thickness.  The  small  intestines,  infantile 
in  size,  were  cartilaginous  in  sections,  and 
adhesions  occurred  at  frequent  points.  The 
colon  was  no  larger  than  an  adult  thumb 
throughout,  and  also  exhibited  adhesions  in 
various  places.  The  only  organs  of  the  body 
that  were  in  anything  like  a  condition  of 
functional  activity  were  the  lungs  and  the 
heart.  The  kidneys,  the  spleen,  and  the  pan- 
creas, as  in  the  previous  case,  were  incipiently 
hardened. 

It  has  been  mentioned  in  several  of  the 
cases  quoted  that  the  patient,  after  beginning 
the  fast,  experienced  a  renewal  of  vitality 
for  which  no  solid  physical  foundation 
existed.  This  was  true  to  a  degree  in  each 
of  the  other  cases,  and  was  so  marked  at 
times  that  there  was  hope  of  ultimate  recov- 
ery. Nature,  struggling  to  restore  organic 
function,  makes  the  effort  commensurate 
with  the  gravity  of  the  existent  defect.  By 
'the  removal  of  the  labor  of  digestion  at  least 
one-half  of  the  total  organic  work  of  the 

328 


DEATH    IN    THE    FAST 

body  ceases,  and  relief  that  simulates  recu- 
peration is  manifested  despite  structural 
deficiency  in  the  machine.  These  favorable 
symptoms  continue  until  elimination  of 
refuse  is  well  under  way  and  proves  a  task 
beyond  the  organs  to  accomplish  when 
decline  begins  and  progresses  until  nerve 
centers  and  brain  can  no  longer  receive 
adequate  support,  and  the  body  dies.  In 
Cases  3  and  4  the  relief  experienced  after 
the  first  fast  in  each  case  was  sufficient,  with 
organs  still  partially  able  to  function,  to 
enable  the  system  to  maintain  itself  until 
accumulation  again  became  too  great  to 
permit  of  balance.  The  defects  in  structure, 
too  serious  to  have  been  corrected  in  the 
earlier  treatment  or  in  the  interim,  now 
reached  the  stage  of  disintegration  or  of 
atrophy,  and  the  liberation  of  the  life  prin- 
ciple was  no  longer  possible. 

At  the  time  of  consultation  the  presence 
of  serious  organic  defect  cannot  always  be 
determined,  but  no  doubt  is  permitted 
shortly  after  the  fast  begins,  for  within  a 
week  or  ten  days  symptoms  are  displayed 
that  fix  conditions  as  they  exist.  The  third 
week  positively  decides  the  outcome.  In  the 
two  cases  last  described  the  signs  of  organic 

329 


FASTING 


disease  were  such  as  not  to  be  mistaken  from 
the  first.  The  result  in  each  instance  must 
be  death,  and  all  that  could  be  done  to  aid 
possible  recovery  would,  in  the  circumstances, 
prove  of  no  avail.  Because  of  family  anxiety 
and  the  hoplessness  of  cure,  these  cases  were 
placed  upon  restricted  diet,  a  diet  that  put 
no  undue  strain  upon  the  failing  functions, 
but  that,  nevertheless,  did  not  ameliorate  the 
distress  of  disease  as  an  absolute  fast  would 
have  done.  Life  was  prolonged  for  several 
weeks  in  these  instances,  but,  if  food  had 
been  entirely  omitted,  relief  would  have  been 
greater,  and  days  would  have  been  added  to 
existence. 

The  passing  of  the  life  of  a  human  body 
in  cases  that  are  medically  treated,  in  the 
majority  of  instances,  happens  under  the 
influence  of  opiates  that  deaden  pain  and 
paralyze  consciousness.  In  the  fast  the  end 
of  a  life  occurs  as  a  quiet  sleep,  painless, 
peaceful,  and  beautiful. 

Disease  is  self -limited ;  the  amount  of 
poison  manufactured  is  determined  by  the 
intake  of  food  or  of  drugs,  and  eradication 
of  disease  is  fixed  in  limit  of  time  by  the 
ability  of  the  vital  organs  to  cast  out  toxic 

330 


DEATH    IN    THE    FAST 

products.  The  possibility  always  exists  that 
these  organs  may  prove  unequal  to  their  work, 
and  this  possibility  becomes  a  certainty,  with 
death  as  the  outcome,  in  two  situations — one, 
when  the  organs  themselves  are  structurally 
defective,  and  the  other,  when  their  powers 
are  stimulated  through  food  or  through 
drugs,  or  both,  to  the  point  of  exhaustion. 
Only  one  of  these  conditions,  that  of  organic 
defect  presents  itself  in  treating  disease  by 
means  of  the  fast.  Both  are  met  in  the  thera- 
peutics of  medicine. 

The  results  displayed  in  the  post  mortem 
findings  cited,  and  the  comparisons  made  in 
the  statement  that  follows,  are  tangible  assets 
in  the  claim  that,  in  the  absence  of  defects 
in  the  organs  of  the  body,  abstinence  from 
food,  with  other  natural  health-giving  and 
health-preserving  accompaniments,  is  the 
unfailing  remedy  for  the  cure  of  functional 
ills.  The  physician  and  the  patient  from  the 
outset  of  the  treatment  possess  the  assurance 
of  recovery;  and  confidence  that  rests  on 
infallible  natural  law  is  in  itself  of  the  great- 
est assistance  in  accomplishing  results. 


331 


FASTING 


COMPARATIVE  STATEMENT  OF  POST  MORTEM 
FINDINGS  IN  DEATH  BY  STARVATION  (MED- 
ICAL) ,  AND  POST  MORTEM  FINDINGS  IN  DEATH 
DURING  THE  FAST  AS  NOTED  IN  THE  TEXT. 

DEATH  BY  STARVATION.    DEATH  IN  THE  FAST. 

EMACIATION. 

Marked.  In   cases   where   cirrhosed 

state  of  liver  or  stomach  ex- 
isted, emaciation  was  similar 
to  that  in  chronic  ailments, 
but  in  the  other  instances  it 
was  not  at  all  marked. 

SKIN. 

Shrivelled  and  wrinkled;  Smooth  and  pliable  in  all 
emits  a  fetid  odor ;  sometimes  cases ;  free  from  odor ;  no 
dark  brown,  varnishy  coat-  coating;  not  adherent.  Ex- 
ing;  tightly  adherent  to  parts  cept  in  cases  of  cirrhosis  of 
beneath;  rough,  scurvy  sur-  liver  or  stomach,  perfectly 
face.  white.  In  the  latter  sinused 

condition  as  noted. 

SUB-CUTANEOUS  FAT. 

Absent.  In  all  cases  sub-cutaneous 

fat  was  present.  This  was 
especially  so  where  disin- 
tegration of  the  liver  is  noted , 

POST  MORTEM  RIGIDITY. 

Pronounced.  Very  slight. 

332 


DEATH    IN    THE    FAST 


PUTREFACTION. 

Sets  in  at  once  and  pro-          Very  slow  in  progress.    No 
gresses  very  rapidly.  preservatives    were    used    on 

any  body  before  holding  the 
autopsy.  In  one  instance 
post  mortem  was  held  one 
month  after  death,  and  pu- 
trefaction was  hardly  notice- 
able. Slowness  of  decay  is 
attributable  to  the  constant 
employment  of  both  external 
and  internal  baths  during 
treatment.  Fasting  is  a 
process  of  elimination  in 
immediate  result,  and  the 
products  that  tend  to  swift 
decomposition  are  removed 
from  the  body  as  rapidly  as 
formed. 

HEART. 

Usually  contracted,   con-          Normal  in  all  cases. 
taining  only  a  small  amount 
of  blood.    Sometimes  distinct 
atrophy. 

LUNGS. 

Normal  but  smaller.  Normal  except  as  noted. 

BLOOD. 

Lessened    in    amount,    but          Abundance  of  blood.     No 
thin  and  fluid  from  anemia.        apparent  anemia. 

BLADDER. 

Invariably  empty.     Some-          In  all  cases  contained  some 
times  much  atrophied.  water.     Pus   as   noted.     No 

atrophy  except  in  CASE  7. 
333 


FASTING 


SPLEEN. 

Not  noteworthy.  Normal    in    majority    of 

cases.  Disintegration  noted 
in  CASE  4,  atrophy  in 
CASES  6  and  7. 


PANCREAS. 

Always  atrophied,  some-  Atrophy  noted  in  CASES 
times  to  practical  disappear-  6  and  7;  hypertrophy  with 
ance.  cirrhosis  in  CASE  4;  incip- 

ient cirrhosis  in  CASES  10 
and  11.     Others  normal. 


OMENTUM. 

Transparent  and  destitute         In    all    cases    some    fat; 
of  fat  in    CASE    4    excessive    fat. 

Transparent  in  no  case. 

LIVER. 

Unaltered  except   in   size,          Noted  in  all  cases.    There 
which  is  lessened.  were   no   general   character- 

istics; the  organ  varied  in 
size  and  structure  with  the 
individual. 

GALL  BLADDER. 

Usually  full;  contents         CASE  8  was  the  only  in- 
•t lining  adjacent  tissues.  stance    in    which    there    was 

staining  of  adjacent  tissues. 
Others  were  as  noted  or 
normal. 


384 


DEATH    IN    THE    FAST 


STOMACH. 

Small,  contracted;  walls  Several  cases  showed  ex- 
thin;  mucosa  corrugated  treme  dilation;  two  were  in 
and  pale.  state  of  cirrhosis;  none 

showed  contractions  except 
CASE  3  (hour-glass),  and 
CASES  10  and  11  (cirr- 
hosis). Other  variations  as 
noted. 


INTESTINES. 

Show  uniform  contraction         The  condition  of  the  intes- 

as  to  lumen  and  length ;  walls  tines  is  specifically  noted  in 

usually  thin  and  transparent  all    cases.      There    were    no 

to  light;  their  atrophy  in  this  general    characteristics,    but 

connection    is    characteristic.  in  no  instance  were  the  walls 

Sometimes    empty ;     some-  unduly  thin, 
times  containing  dark  mucus; 
sometimes    distended    with 
gas. 

KIDNEYS. 
Do  not  seem  to  suffer.  Suffered  as  noted. 

One  fact  of  significance  shown  in  the  post 
mortem  findings  and  in  the  comparison  noted 
above  is  that,  no  matter  how  general  were 
the  defects  in  other  organs,  nor  how  ema- 
ciated the  body,  unless  they  themselves  were 
organically  imperfect,  the  heart,  the  lungs, 
and  the  brain  were  normal  in  size  and  in 
functional  ability.  It  may  be  added  that, 
although  not  always  specifically  stated,  the 

335 


FASTING 


brain  in  each  instance  in  the  cases  cited  was 
thoroughly  dissected. 

Through  the  facts  related,  the  immediate 
cause  of  death  in  every  instance  quoted  can 
easily  be  traced  to  its  origin.  Organic 
deficiency  is  the  direct  result  of  functional 
digestive  impairment.  The  scientific  worth 
of  this  observation  is  much  enhanced  by  the 
fact  that  in  these  autopsies  the  organs  were 
presented  unaffected  by  recent  drug  paraly- 
sis. The  cases  that  exhibited  glands  that 
were  hardened  or  atrophied  were  invariably 
of  an  emaciated  or  wiry  physique,  while  those 
in  which  a  softening  of  the  organs  had 
occurred  were  inclined  to  obesity.  It  is  also 
interesting  to  note  that,  where  mental  con- 
trol was  lacking  at  any  stage  of  the  fast, 
the  colon  at  dissection  showed  displacement 
and  distortion  that  rendered  evacuation  of 
its  contents  almost  impossible,  even  with 
enemata. 

From  the  scientific  viewpoint  the  observa- 
tions included  in  the  present  chapter  are 
undoubtedly  of  greatest  import  in  the  text. 
By  them  the  theory  of  Fasting  for  the 
Cure  of  Disease  is  substantiated  as  a  fact, 
and  proof  of  its  efficacy  as  a  remedy  is  ren- 
dered incontrovertible. 

336 


DEATH    IN    THE    FAST 


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337 


CHAPTER  XIX 


SCHOOLS  OF  NATURAL  HEALING 


"Science  does  its  duty,  not  in  telling  us  the  causes 
of  spots  in  the  sun,  but  in  explaining  to  us  the  laws  of 
cur  own  life,  and  the  consequences  of  their  violation," 

Ruskin. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

SCHOOLS  OF  NATURAL  HEALING 

AS  elsewhere  expressed,  the  fast  in 
itself  is  but  a  means  to  an  end,  but 
by  its  use  in  the  treatment  of  disease, 
many  mechanical  defects  in  organs  are 
entirely  overcome  through  muscular  rest  and 
relaxation.  Certain  accessories  are,  however, 
brought  into  play.  Bodily  cleanliness  and 
sanitation  are  essential,  and  mechanical  ad- 
justment of  bones,  muscular  manipulation, 
and  the  internal  bath  are  all  invaluable  con- 
comitants of  treatment. 

In  connection  with  muscular  manipulation 
and  bone  adjustment,  two  distinct  schools  of 
healing  have  arisen  in  late  years,  those  of 
Osteopathy  and  Chiropractic. 

Osteopathy  is  defined  as  "that  science  or 
system  of  healing  which  treats  disease  of 
the  human  body  by  manual  therapeutics  for 
the  stimulation  of  the  remedial  forces  within 
the  body  itself,  for  the  correction  of  mis- 
placed tissue,  and  for  the  removal  of  obstruc- 

341 


FASTING 


tions  or  interferences  with  the  fluids  of  the 
body,  all  without  the  internal  administration 
of  drugs  or  medicine."  The  name,  derived 
as  it  is  from  the  Greek,  osteon,  bone,  and 
pathos,  suffering,  is  not  such  a  misnomer  as 
might  at  first  appear.  The  osteopathic 
theory  is  that  many  disease  symptoms  orig- 
inate in  bony  lesions.  This  applies  more 
particularly  to  the  vertebral  column,  which, 
owing  to  its  complex  mechanism,  is  liable  to 
several  forms  of  sub-dislocation,  depending 
upon  the  region  in  which  they  may  occur. 
The  most  common  is  that  of  rotation  fol- 
lowed by  forward  or  backward  displacement 
of  a  single  vertebra.  Compensation  always 
succeeds  these  changes  so  that  the  disturb- 
ance is  communicated  to  the  ones  above  or 
below,  thus  forming  a  group.  These  lesions 
are  detected  by  the  touch  and  are  verified 
by  tenderness  of  the  surrounding  parts. 
They  are  necessarily  slight,  but  the  theory 
supposes  them  sufficient  to  profoundly  influ- 
ence adjacent  tissue. 

Mobility  of  the  spine  is  of  first  import- 
ance, for  in  health  there  is  motion  between 
adjacent  vertebrae.  Lack  of  movement  may 
be  caused  by  muscular  tension,  by  stretching 
of  ligaments,  or  by  a  union  of  the  parts  due 

342 


SCHOOLS  OF  NATURAL  HEALING 

to  bony  deposit.  Following  any  of  these 
conditions,  the  theory  holds,  are  functional 
or  organic  disturbances,  acute  becoming 
chronic.  Nerves  are  pinched  or  impinged, 
and,  as  the  circulation  of  the  blood  to  an 
organ  depends  upon  its  nerve  control, 
organic  mechanism  is  interfered  with,  and 
disease  begins. 

Chiropractics  is  defined  as  "a  system  of 
therapeutic  treatment  for  disease  through 
the  adjustment  of  the  articulations  of  the 
human  body,  particularly  those  of  the  spine, 
with  the  object  of  relieving  pressure  or  ten- 
sion upon  nerve  filaments."  As  in  Oste- 
opathy, the  operations  are  performed  with 
the  hands,  no  drugs  being  administered. 

The  two  theories  above  presented  are  seen 
to  be  most  closely  related.  But,  it  must  be 
obvious  that  each  school  is  reasoning  from 
effect  to  cause  when  the  claim  is  advanced 
that  spinal  lesions  primarily  lower  nutrition. 
Muscles  built  when  a  state  of  mal-nutrition 
exists  are  not  adequate  for  the  work  of  sup- 
porting the  bony  structure  with  the  delicate 
adjustment  that  combines  strength  with  the 
necessary  degree  of  flexibility.  Barring  dis- 
placement of  vertebrae  through  an  accident 
that  forcibly  disturbs  the  arrangement  of  the 

343 


FASTING 


separate  bones  of  the  spinal  column,  there  is 
but  one  source  from  which  may  arise  a  con- 
dition of  lowered  nutrition  in  any  one  of  the 
muscles  of  the  body — impaired  digestion. 
Perfect  digestion  insures  perfect  nutrition, 
and  perfect  nutrition  must  conserve  mus- 
cular tone. 

Both  Osteopathy  and  Chiropractics  are 
cut  short  of  their  greatest  possibilities  when 
they  are  applied  apart  from  the  fast.  In  the 
presence  of  a  full  stomach  they  become  mere 
methods  of  force  and  stimulation,  which,  in 
many  respects,  are  detrimental  to  health. 
They  are  then  to  be  classed  only  as  passive 
physical  culture,  in  which  the  patient  permits 
the  operators  to  exercise  the  muscles  instead 
of  working  them  himself.  During  a  fast,  all 
muscles  of  the  body  are  in  a  state  of  perfect 
relaxation,  a  natural  result  of  the  process  of 
rest  and  elimination  in  progress.  They 
respond  in  this  condition  to  every  impetus, 
and  blood  circulation  at  the  same  time  is 
directly  amenable  to  the  stimulation  applied. 
Hence  the  value,  both  local  and  general,  of 
a  combination  with  the  fast  of  Osteopathic 
manipulation  and  Chiropractic  thrust. 

In  pregnancy  and  confinement  osteopathic 
methods  are  superior  to  all  others  in  equaliz- 

344 


SCHOOLS  OF  NATURAL  HEALING 

ing  circulation  and  in  facilitating  delivery. 
In  correcting  uterine  displacement,  fasting 
removes  congestion,  relaxes  the  parts,  and 
manual  adjustment  completes  the  cure. 
Manipulation  at  all  times  is  an  aid  to  elimin- 
ation, but  especially  is  this  so  during  the  fast ; 
and,  when  a  patient  is  weak  and  despondent, 
circulation,  thus  stimulated,  buoys.  Con- 
gested glands  that  so  often  suppurate  and 
develop  into  false  or  true  cancerous  growths 
may,  through  manipulation,  be  caused  to  dis- 
appear by  the  increased  power  of  absorption 
thus  induced.  This  applies  to  all  local  swell- 
ings and  excrescences,  the  operation  compel- 
ling natural  augmentation  of  blood  in  the 
parts. 

Osteopathy  and  Chiropractics  are  purely 
mechanical  accessories  in  the  treatment  of 
disease,  and,  as  such,  their  field  of  practice 
is  limited.  But,  in  connection  with  the  method 
outlined  in  the  text,  their  efficiency  is  largely 
extended,  and,  used  in  conjunction,  the  three 
schools  form  a  perfect  combination  for  the 
prevention  and  cure  of  disease. 

Christian  Science  ranges  itself  with  the 
various  theories  of  psycho-therapy  that  have 
been  advanced  from  time  to  time,  but  its 
effect  in  the  treatment  of  disease  is  of  worth 

345 


FASTING! 

only  as  regards  the  suggestive  power  of  mind 
over  matter.  It,  with  other  similar  cults, 
neglects  the  physical  body  and  its  functions, 
and  calls  upon  the  soul  to  further  its  ends. 
The  interdependence  of  matter  and  mind  is 
the  subject  of  detailed  discussion  in  another 
chapter,  and  need  not  be  repeated  here. 
Healing  the  sick  as  well  as  the  sinful  is  an 
ideal  union  in  purpose.  Needless  to  say,  it 
is  seldom  found  in  practice,  yet  there  is  truth 
in  the  thought  that  physical  health  is  a  prime 
factor  in  the  process  of  attaining  spiritual 
excellence. 

All  practical  working  schools  that  employ 
natural  aids  to  health  in  their  operation  are 
mutually  concerned  in  the  conservation  of 
physical  balance  in  man.  Excluding  the 
quasi-science  of  medicine,  with  the  exception 
of  its  rarely  needed  surgical  branch,  the 
methods  of  natural  healing  enumerated  em- 
body a  perfect  combination. 

(THE  END) 


346 


GLOSSARY 


ABDOMEN.     The  belly. 

ABERRATION.     A  wandering  from. 

ABEYANT.     Absence;  suspension. 

ABSCESS.     A  cavity  containing  pus. 

ABSORPTION.     The  sucking  in  or  taking  up  of  a  fluid 

by  anything. 
ABSTINENCE.     Voluntary   privation   or    self-denial    in 

diet,  etc. 

ACCOUCHEMENT.     Confinement,  lying-in,  delivery. 
ACCRUE.     To  arise,  to  be  added  to. 
ACETONE.     A   chemical   compound   developed   in   the 

body  by  fermentation  of  organic  matters. 
ACID.     As  adjective,  sour,  tart.     As  noun,  a  compound 

of  the  gas,  hydrogen,  with  other  substances. 
ADDENDUM.     A  thing  to  be  added. 
ADENOID.     A  growth  that  resembles  a  gland. 
ADHERENT.     Sticking  to  or  grown  to  a  surface. 
ADIPOSE.     Fatty. 
ADJACENT.     Lying  near  to. 
ADOLESCENCE.     The    period     between    puberty    and 

maturity. 

ALIENIST.     One  who  treats  mental  disease. 
ALIMENTARY  CANAL.     The  digestive  tube  and  acces- 
sory glands. 
ALKALINE.     A  salt  of  any  kind  that  effervesces  with 

acids;  the  opposite  of  an  acid. 
ALLEVIATE.     To  lessen,  to  diminish,  to  allay. 
347 


GLOSSARY 


AMELIORATE.     To  make  better. 

ANEMIA.     A  deficiency  of  blood  and  red  corpuscles. 

ANEMIC.      Pertaining  to  anemia. 

ANAESTHETIC.     A  substance  producing  insensibility  or 
unconsciousness. 

ANALOGY.     Similarity  of  relations  between  one  thing 
and  another. 

ANTISEPTIC.     Preventing  or  destroying  putrefaction. 

ANUS.     The  lower  opening  of  the  alimentary  canal. 

APATHY.     Deadness  of  the  emotions,  want  of  feeling. 

APERIENT.     A  gentle  purgative. 

APOPLEXY.     Paralysis  from  rupture  of  a  blood  vessel 
in  the  brain. 

APPENDICITIS.     Inflammation  of  the  vermiform  appen- 
dix. 

APPENDIX    (VERMIFORM).     The  worm-shaped  appen- 
dage to  the  cecum. 

ARTICULATION.     A  joint. 

ASPHYXIATION.      The   condition   caused   by   non-oxy- 
genation  of  the  blood ;  suffocation. 

ASSIMILATION.     The  act  of  absorbing  nutriment,  and 
its  change  into  tissue,  blood,  etc. 

ATROPHY.     The  wasting  of  a  part  from  lack  of  nutri- 
tion. 

AUGMENTATION.     The  act  of  increasing. 

AUTO-INTOXICATION.     Self-poisoning. 

AUTOPSY.     The  examination  of  a  body  after  death. 

AUTO-TOXIN.     Any    poisonous    substance    originating 
within  the  body. 

AXIOM.     A  self-evident  truth. 

BACILLI.     The  plural  of  bacillus. 

BACILLUS.     Any  one  of  a  genus  of  rod-like  organisms, 
microscopic  in  size. 

248 


GLOSSARY 


B 

BACTERIA.  The  microscopic  organisms  that  cause 
putrefaction ;  microbes ;  bodies  similar  to  bacilli, 
but  differing  in  form. 

BANEFUL.     Harmful,  poisonous. 

BARRENNESS.  The  state  of  being  incapable  of  pro- 
ducing offspring. 

BILE.     The  yellow,  bitter  liquid  secreted  by  the  liver. 

BIO-CHEMISTRY.     The  chemistry  of  living  tissues. 

BOLUS.     Medicine  made  into  the  form  of  a  pill. 

BOUGIE.  A  slender  cylindrical  instrument,  solid  or 
hollow. 

BOWEL.     The  intestine. 

BLADDER.     The  membranous  receptacle  of  the  urine. 

BRONCHIAL.  Pertaining  to  the  Bronchi  or  main 
branches  of  the  Trachea. 

BUOY.     To  support  a  person  or  his  hopes. 

BUTTOCKS.     The  rump,  the  protuberant  part  behind. 


CALIBRE.     The  internal  diameter  of  a  rod  or  tube. 

CANAL  ALIMENTARY.     The  digestive  tube  and  acces- 
sory glands. 

CANCER.     A  malignant  growth  having  a  tendency  to 
spread. 

CANKER.     An  eating  sore,  especially  in  the  mouth. 

CAPILLARY.     A  minute  blood  vessel. 

CAPSULE.     A  soluble  shell  for  administering  medicine. 

CARBOHYDRATE.     A  compound  of  carbon  with  hydro- 
gen   and    oxygen,   the   latter    gases    being    in 
proportion  to  form  water. 
S49 


GLOSSARY 


CARBONIC    ACID.     A    pungent,    suffocating    gas,    the 

product  of  respiration. 

CARDIAC  OPENING.     The  upper  opening  of  the  stom- 
ach, so-called  because  nearest  the  heart. 
CARTILAGINOUS.     Of  the  nature  of  cartilage  or  gristle. 
CATARRHAL.     Of  the  nature  of  catarrh,  which  is  an 

inflammation  of  the  mucus  membrane. 
CATEGORY.     A  list  or  class. 
CATHARTIC.     A  purgative  medicine. 
CAUTERIZE.      To    burn    or    sear    with    substances    or 

instruments. 
CECUM.     The  blind  pouch  at  the  head  of  the  large 

intestine. 

CELIBATE.     One  who  is  unmarried. 
CHOLAGOGUE.     A  medicine  that  promotes  the  flow  of 

bile. 

CHYLE.     The  milky  fluid  of  intestinal  digestion. 
CIRCULATORY.     Pertaining  to  the   circulation   of  the 

blood. 

CIRRHOSED.     Pertaining  to  cirrhosis. 
CIRRHOSIS.     Thickening  of  the  connective  tissue  of  an 

organ. 

CLINICAL.     Pertaining  to  a  sick-bed  or  clinic. 
CLOT.     A  mass  of  thickened  blood. 
COAGULATED.     Thickened  (as  of  fluids),  curded. 
CODEIN.     One  of  the  alkaloids  derived  from  opium. 
COLIC.     Spasmodic  pain  in  the  abdomen. 
COLLATERAL.     Accompanying,  aiding. 
COLON.     The  superior  part  of  the  large  intestine. 
COLON    TUBE.     A    long    rubber    tube    for    insertion 

through  anus  and  sigmoid  flexure  into  the  colon. 
350 


GLOSSARY 


COMA.     An  abnormally  deep  sleep;  stupor. 

COMATOSE.     In  a  condition  of  coma. 

COMMENSURATE.     Having  the  same  measure  or  extent; 
equal,  proportional. 

COMMINUTION.     The  process  of  breaking  into  pieces. 

CONCOMITANT.     Accompanying;  existing  in  conjunc- 
tion with. 

CONDIGN.     Adequate,  deserved. 

CONGENITAL.     Existing  from  birth;  innate. 

CONGESTION.     Excess  of  blood  in  a  part. 

CONSERVE.     To  preserve  or  protect  from  injury  or  loss. 

CONSTIPATION.     Sluggish  action  of  the  bowels. 

CONTAGION.     The  communication  of  disease  by  con- 
tact. 

CONTINENT.     Complete    abstinence    from    indulgence 
in  sexual  intercourse. 

CONVALESCENCE.     The     period     of     recovery     after 
disease. 

COORDINATION.     Harmonious  action,  as  of  muscles. 

CORD,  SPINAL.     The  cord  of  nerve  tissue  in  the  canal 
of  the  spinal  column. 

CORD,    UMBILICAL.     The   navel-string    attaching   the 
foetus  to  the  placenta  or  after-birth. 

CORIUM.     The  deep  layer  of  the  skin. 

CORROSIVE.     A  substance  that  eats  away  or  destroys. 

CORRUGATION.     A  contraction  into  wrinkles  or  folds. 

CRISES.     The  plural  of  Crisis,  a  turning-point  in  any 
matter. 

CRITERIA.     The   plural   of   Criterion,  a   standard   by 
which  anything  is  judged. 

CROUPOUS.     Pertaining  to  Croup,  which  is  acute  in- 
flammation of  the  larynx  and  trachea. 

CRUX.     The  cross,  the  central  point. 
351 


GLOSSARY 


CULT.     A  system  of  religious  belief. 

CURD.     The  coagulated  or  curdled  part  of  milk,  which 

is  usually  made  into  cheese. 
CUTANEOUS.     Pertaining  to  the  skin. 
CUTICLE.     The  epidermis  or  outer  layer  of  the  skin. 
CYST.     A  membranous  sack  containing  fluid. 

D 

DEBILITY.     Weakness,  loss  or  want  of  strength. 

DECOMPOSITION.     Putrefaction,  decay. 

DEGENERATE.     Fallen  off  from  a  better  to  a  worse 

state ;  declined  in  natural  or  moral  worth. 
DELIRIUM.     Mental  aberration  due  to  disease. 
DELIVERY.     Parturition,  child-birth. 
DENSITY.     The  quality  of  being  close  or  compact. 
DENUDE.     To  make  bare  or  naked. 
DEPLETE.     To  reduce,  to  lessen. 
DESIDERATA.     Plural  of  Desideratum,  a  state  of  things 

to  be  desired. 
DETERIORATION.     The   act   of   reducing   anything   in 

value  or  quality. 

DETRIMENTAL.     Causing  hurt;  injurious. 
DIAGNOSIS.     The    recognition    of    disease    from    its 

symptoms. 

DIAGNOSTICIAN.     One  skilled  in  diagnosing. 
DIAPHRAGM.     The  muscular  wall  between  the  chest 

and  the  abdomen. 
DIARRHEA.     Excessive  discharge  of  fluid  evacuations 

from  the  bowels. 

DIET.     Food;  a  system  of  feeding. 
DIETARY.     Pertaining  to  diet;  a  system  of  feeding. 
DIETETICS.     The  branch  of  treatment  referring  to  diet. 
352 


GLOSSARY 


DIETITIAN.     One  skilled  in  dietetics. 

DIGESTION.     Conversion  of  food  into  form  suitable  for 

assimilation. 
DIGITALIS.     Drug   made    from    the    poisonous    plant, 

Foxglove,  used  as  a  heart  stimulant. 
DILATE.     To  enlarge  in  all  directions. 
DISINTEGRATION.     The  breaking-up  of  a  body  into  its 

parts. 
DISLOCATION.     A  displacement  of  organs  or  of  the 

surfaces  of  the  articulations  or  joints. 
DISPARITY.     Inequality. 
DISSECT.     To  separate  the  parts  of. 
DISSOLUTION.     Death. 
DOGMA.     A  doctrine  put  forward  to  be  received  on 

the  authority  of  the  propounder. 
DORSAL.     Pertaining   to   the   back;    as   to   vertebrae, 

those  lying  between  the  neck  and  the  loins. 
DOUCHE.     A  stream  of  water  directed  upon  a  part. 
DRASTIC.     Powerful,  acting  with  strength. 
DUCT.     A  tube  to  convey  a  liquid. 
DUODENUM.     The  first  part  of  the  small  intestine. 
DYSPEPSIA.     Impaired  or  imperfect  digestion. 

E 

EFFLUVIUM.  An  exhalation  or  vapor  perceivable  by 
the  sense  of  smell. 

e.  g.     For  example. 

EJECT.     To  cast  out. 

ELIMINATION.  The  act  of  expelling,  excreting,  cast- 
ing out. 

EMACIATED.     Thin  from  loss  of  flesh. 

EMANATION.     An  effluvium;  that  which  proceeds  from 

a  body. 

353 


GLOSSARY 


EMBOLISM.  The  obstruction  of  a  blood-vessel  by  a 
blood-clot. 

EMETIC.     A  substance  that  causes  vomiting. 

EMPIRICAL.  Depending  upon  experience  or  observa- 
tion. 

ENEMA.     A  liquid  injected  into  the  rectum. 

ENEMATA.     The  plural  of  Enema. 

EPICURE.  One  who  gives  himself  up  to  the  enjoy- 
ments of  the  table. 

EPIDEMIC.  Common  to  many  people;  a  prevailing 
ailment. 

EPILEPSY.  Falling  sickness;  a  nervous  affection  with 
loss  of  consciousness  and  convulsions. 

EQUILIBRIUM.     A  state  of  balance. 

ERADICATE.     To  root  out;  to  exterminate. 

EROTIC.     Pertaining  to  sexual  passion. 

ETHER.  The  subtle  fluid  filling  all  space;  also  a 
colorless  fluid  used  as  an  anaesthetic. 

EVACUATION.  The  act  of  causing  a  discharge  from 
any  of  the  excretory  passages. 

EVAPORATION.     The  process  of  turning  into  vapor. 

EXCRESCENCE.     An  abnormal  outgrowth  of  the  body. 

EXCRETE.     To  throw  off  worn-out  material. 

EXPECTORATION.  The  process  of  ejecting  matter  from 
the  lungs  or  trachea  by  spitting. 

EXTIRPATE.     To  cut  out  or  off;  to  eradicate. 

EXTRA-UTERINE.     Outside  the  uterus. 

EXUDATION.  The  state  of  being  emitted  like  moisture 
through  the  pores. 

F 

FALLACY.  That  which  deceives  or  misleads  the  eye 
or  the  mind. 

354 


FALLOPIAN  TUBE.  One  of  the  two  small  tubes  on 
each  side  of  the  uterus  that  convey  the  ova 
from  the  ovaries. 

FANATICISM.     Extravagant  notions  or  opinions. 

FECAL.     Pertaining  to  the  discharge  of  the  bowels. 

FECES.     The  discharge  of  the  bowels. 

FERMENT.     To  change  by  chemical  action. 

FETID.     Having  an  offensive  smell. 

FETUS.  The  young  in  the  womb  after  it  is  perfectly 
formed,  i.  e.,  after  the  fourth  month  of  gestation. 

FICTITIOUS.     Imaginary,  false,  not  real. 

FILAMENT.     A  thread-like  structure. 

FILTER.     To  strain  from  solid  particles. 

FLEXIBILITY.     The  quality  of  being  easily  bent. 

FLUCTUATING.  A  rising  and  falling  suddenly;  un- 
steadiness. 

Focus.  The  meeting-point  of  reflected  or  refracted 
rays  of  light. 

FOMENTATION.  The  application  of  warm  liquids  to 
the  body. 

FUNCTION.     The  normal  or  special  action  of  a  part. 

G 

GALL-BLADDER    ~)  The  pear-shaped  sac  in  the  right 
GALL-CYST  lobe  of  the  liver,  the  reser- 

GALL-SAC  )  voir  for  the  bile. 

GALL-STONES.     Stones  built  up  of  layers  of  carbonate 

of  lime  in  the  gall-bladder  and  its  ducts. 
GANGLIA.     Plural  of  Ganglion,  a  sub-nerve  center. 
GANGRENE.     The  mortification  or  death  of  soft  tissue. 
GASTRIC.     Pertaining  to  the  stomach. 
GELATINOUS.     Resembling  gelatine;  jelly-like. 
355 


GLOSSARY 


GENITAL.     Pertaining  to  the  organs  of  generation. 

GERM.     A  microbe  or  bacterium. 

GERMICIDE.     An  agent  destroying  germs. 

GESTATION.  The  act  of  carrying  young  in  the  uterus 
from  the  time  of  conception  to  that  of  delivery. 

GLAND.     A  secretory  organ. 

GLEET.     Chronic  state  of  gonorrhea  with  discharge. 

GONOCOCCUS.     The  specific  germ  of  gonorrhea. 

GONORRHEA.  A  contagious  inflammation  with  dis- 
charge from  the  genital  organs. 

GRANULATION.  Formation  of  small  elevations  on  a 
healing  surface. 

H 

HEART.  The  hollow  muscular  body,  the  center  of  the 
circulatory  system. 

HEMISPHERE.  Half  a  sphere;  as  to  the  brain,  one  of 
the  upper  spheroidal  portions. 

HEMORRHAGE.     A  flow  of  blood  from  the  vessels. 

HICCOUGH.  A  sudden  inspiration  followed  by  expira- 
tion accompanied  by  a  noise. 

HYGIENE.     The  science  of  health. 

HYPERTROPHY.  Abnormal  increase  in  size  of  a  part 
or  an  organ. 

HYPOCHONDRIAC.  One  affected  with  morbid  anxiety 
regarding  the  health. 

HYPOTHESIS.     A  supposition. 

HYSTERIA.  A  nervous  disorder  of  females  with 
innumerable  symptoms  of  an  emotional  nature. 


ILEO-CECAL.     Pertaining  to  the  Ileum  and  Cecum. 
ILEUM.     The  lower  half  of  the  small  intestine. 
356 


GLOSSARY 


IMBIBED.     Taken  in  by  drinking. 

IMMUNITY.     Freedom  from  risk  of  infection. 

IMPACTED.     Wedged  in. 

IMPEDE.     To  hinder;  to  obstruct. 

IMPETUS.  The  force  with  which  any  body  is  driven 
or  impelled. 

IMPINGE.  Literally,  to  fall  against;  in  Osteopathy 
used  with  reference  to  nerves  pinched  between 
adjacent  vertebrae. 

IMPOTENCE.     A  lack  of  sexual  power. 

INANITION.  Exhaustion  arising  from  organic  in- 
ability to  assimilate  food. 

INCEPTION.     The  beginning. 

INCOHERENCY.  The  quality  of  being  unconnected  in 
ideas,  speech,  etc. 

INCREMENT.     Increase  or  growth. 

INCUMBENT.  Resting  upon  one  as  a  duty  or  obliga- 
tion. 

INDICES.  Plural  of  Index,  that  which  serves  to  point 
out, 

INDUBITABLE.     Not  to  be  doubted. 

INFECTION.     The  communication  of  disease-germs. 

INFILTERING.     Sifting  in,  or  filtering  in. 

INFLUX.     An  inflow. 

INGEST.  To  introduce  food  into  the  body  by  the 
mouth. 

INHALE.     To  draw  into  the  lungs. 

INJECTION.  Forcing  of  liquid  into  a  cavity  or  vessel 
of  the  body. 

INSALIVATE.  To  mix  food  with  saliva  during  mastica- 
tion. 

INSIDIOUS.     Sly,  treacherous. 

INTENTION.     The  process  of  healing. 
357 


GLOSSARY 


INTERIM.     The   meantime;    the   intervening   time   or 

period. 

INTERMITTENT.  Occurring  at  intervals. 
INTERSTICES.  Spaces;  intervals;  pores. 
INTUSSUSCEPTED.  One  part  slipped  into  another,  said 

of  the  intestines. 
ITERATION.     Repetition;  the  act  of  repeating. 


JEJUNUM.     The  second  portion  of  the  small  intestine 

of  which  it  forms  two-fifths. 
JUGULAR.     Pertaining  to  the  neck.    The  jugular  veins 

are  three  in  number;  their  office  is  to  return 

the  blood  from  the  head. 

K 

KATABOLISM.     A  retrograde  change  in  the  tissues  of 

the  body. 
KIDNEYS.     The  organs  secreting  urine. 


LARYNX.     The  upper  part  of  the  windpipe;  the  organ 

of  voice. 

LASCIVIOUS.     Lewd,  lustful. 
LASSITUDE.     Weakness,  exhaustion. 
LESION.     Structural    tissue    change    from    injury    or 

disease. 

LEUCORRHEA.     A  whitish  discharge  from  the  vagina. 
LIGAMENT.     A  band  of  fibrous  tissue  binding  parts 

together. 

358 


GLOSSARY 


LIVER.  The  largest  glandular  organ  of  the  body, 
secreting  bile. 

LOBE.     A  rounded  division  of  an  organ. 

LOCOMOTOR  ATAXIA.  A  peculiar  form  of  apparent 
paralysis  with  unsteady  and  disorderly  mus- 
cular movements. 

LONGEVITY.     Long  life. 

LUBRICANT.  A  substance  producing  slipperiness, 
usually  an  oil  or  a  grease. 

LUMEN.  The  caliber  of  a  tube,  afs  of  the  bowels  or 
blood-vessels. 

LUNGS.     The  organs  of  respiration. 

M 

MALIGNANT.     Virulent;  fatal. 

MALNUTRITION.     Poor  nutrition. 

MAMMALS.     Animals  who  suckle  their  young. 

MANDATORY.     Containing  an  order  or  command. 

MANIA.     Delirium  or  madness. 

MANIPULATION.     Treatmentwith  the  hands ; handling. 

MASSAGE.     Manipulation;  methodic  pressure,  friction, 

and  kneading  of  the  body. 
MASTICATION.     The  process  of  chewing. 
MASTURBATION.     The  production  of  the  sexual  orgasm 

in  a  manner  other  than  natural. 
MAXIMUM.     The  greatest  quantity. 
MEDIUM.     That  in  which  anything  lives;  surrounding 

conditions. 

MELANCHOLIA.     Depression  of  spirits ;  gloominess. 
MEMBRANE.     A  thin  enveloping  or  lining  substance. 
MENOPAUSE.     The    end    of    the    menstrual    life;    the 

change  of  life. 

339 


GLOSSARY 


MENSES.     The  monthly  flow  from  the  womb. 

MENSTRUAL.     Pertaining  to  the  menses. 

MESENTERY.  The  membrane  which  forms  the  attach- 
ment between  the  small  intestines  and  the 
abdomen. 

METABOLISM.  A  change  in  the  intimate  condition  of 
cells,  constructive  or  destructive. 

MICROBE.     Any  minute  or  micro-organism. 

MICRO-ORGANISM.     A  minute  organism. 

MINIMUM.     The  smallest  quantity. 

MISNOMER.     A  mistaken  or  misapplied  name. 

MITIGATION.  The  process  of  making  milder  or 
abating. 

MITRAL.  Miter-like;  applied  to  the  valve  situated  at 
the  left  auricular  opening  of  the  heart. 

MOBILITY.     The  property  of  being  easily  moved. 

MORBID.  Not  healthy;  diseased;  pertaining  to 
disease. 

MORTALITY.  The  death  rate;  the  state  of  being 
mortal. 

MOTOR.  Applied  to  muscles  and  nerves  moving  a 
part. 

MUCOSA.     A  mucus  membrane. 

Mucus.  The  viscid  liquid  secretion  of  mucus  mem- 
brane. 

MUTATION.     The  act  of  changing;  change. 

MYOPIA.     Near-sightedness. 

MYOPIC.     Pertaining  to  Myopia. 

N 

NARCOTIC.     Medicine  that  produces  sleep  or  torpor. 
NASAL.     Pertaining  to  the  nose. 
360 


GLOSSARY 


NAUSEA.     Sickness  at  the  stomach;  a  desire  to  vomit. 

NAVEL.  The  narrow  and  deep  impression  in  the 
center  of  the  abdomen,  marking  where  the 
fetus  was  attached  to  the  placenta  by  the 
umbilical  cord;  the  umbilicus. 

NEUTRALIZE.     To  render  negative  or  inactive. 

NOSTRILS.  The  two  apertures  or  cavities  in  the  nose 
which  give  passage  to  the  air  and  to  the  secre- 
tions of  the  nose. 

NOSTRUM.  A  secret  formula  for  a  medicine,  and  the. 
medicine  itself. 

Noxious.     Harmful;  poisonous. 

NUTRIENT.  A  nutritious  substance;  conveying  nutri- 
ment. 

NUTRITION.     The  process  of  assimilation  of  food. 

NUTRITIVE.     Affording  nutrition. 

o 

OBESITY.     Fatness;  corpulence. 

OCCLUDE.     To  block  up. 

OMENTUM.  A  fold  of  the  peritoneum  connecting  the 
abdominal  viscera  with  the  stomach. 

OPIATE.  A  medicine  compounded  with  opium;  a 
narcotic. 

ORIFICE.     A  mouth  or  entrance;  an  opening. 

ORTHODOX.  In  accordance  with  that  commonly  held 
as  true. 

Os.  A  mouth;  as  to  the  uterus,  its  opening  into  the 
vagina. 

OVARY.  The  organ  of  generation  in  the  female,  pro- 
ducing the  ova  or  eggs. 

367 


GLOSSARY 


OVUM.     The  female  reproductive  cell ;  an  egg.    Plural, 

Ova. 
OXYGEN.     One  of  the  gaseous  elements ;  the  supporter 

of  life  and  combustion. 


PABULUM.     Food;  anything  nutritive. 

PACK.     A  moist  towel  or  blanket  placed  on  a  patient. 

PALPATION.     Exploration  with  the  hand. 

PANCREAS.  A  digestive  gland  in  the  abdomen;  the 
sweetbread. 

PARADOXICAL.  Inclined  to  notions  seemingly  impos- 
sible. 

PARALYSIS.     Loss  of  sensation  or  voluntary  motion. 

PARASITE.  An  organism  that  inhabits  another  organ- 
ism and  obtains  nourishment  from  it. 

PASTEURIZE.  To  destroy  the  microbic  life  by  heating 
the  substance. 

PELVIS.  The  bony  basin  at  the  lower  part  of  the 
trunk. 

PER.  A  Latin  preposition  havine  the  force  of,  passage 
through,  by. 

PERIOSTEUM.  A  dense  lining  membrance  covering  the 
surface  of  the  bones  of  the  body. 

PERISTALSIS.  The  worm-like  motion  of  the  bowels, 
causing  downward  movement  of  their  contents. 

PERITONEUM.  The  membrane  lining  the  inner  surface 
of  the  abdomen. 

PERITONITIS.     Inflammation  of  the  Peritoneum. 

PERMEATE.     To  pass  through  the  pores  of. 

PERNICIOUS.     Highly  destructive;  fatal. 


GLOSSARY 


PHARYNX.     The  muscular  membranous  sac  behind  the 

mouth. 

PHYSIOLOGY.     The  science  of  the  functions  of  the  body. 
PHYSIQUE.     The  physical  structure  of  an  individual. 
PICKET-LINE.     A  line   of   guards   posted   in   front   of 

an  army  to  give  notice  of  the  approach  of  the 

enemy. 
PLEURAL.     Pertaining   to    the    Pleura    or    membrane 

enveloping  the  lungs. 
PLIABLE.     Easily  bent. 
PNEUMOGASTRIC.     Pertaining   to   the    lungs    and   the 

stomach. 

POLEMICAL.     Argumentative;  controversial. 
PNEUMONIA.     Inflammation  of  the  lungs. 
PORE.     A  small  opening  in  the  skin. 
PORTAL.     Pertaining  to  the  Portal  Vein  which  carries 

the  blood  to  the  liver. 
POST  MORTEM.     Occurring  after  death. 
POST  NATAL.     Occurring  after  birth. 
POTENTIAL.     As  adj  ective,  powerful ;  as  noun,  possess- 
ing power. 

PRECLUDE.     To  shut  out;  to  stop. 
PREGNANCY.     The  condition  of  being  with  child. 
PRESCRIBE.     To  lay  down  rules  or  directions ;  to  direct 

to  be  used  as  a  remedy. 

PRIMORDIAL.     First  in  order;  primary,  original. 
PRISTINE.     Belonging  to   an   early   period   or   state; 

original,  primitive. 

PROCREATION.     Reproduction,  generation. 
PROGNOSIS.     Prediction  of  course  and  end  of  disease. 
PROLAPSED.     Fallen  down. 
PROPAGATE.     To  generate;  to  produce. 


363 


GLOSSARY 


PROSTATE.  A  glandular  body  situated  around  the 
neck  of  the  bladder  in  the  male. 

PROTEID.     An  albuminoid  constituent  of  an  organism. 

PROTEIN.  The  sulphur-free  residue  of  a  proteid  after 
the  action  of  caustic  potash. 

PROTOPLASM.  Primitive  organic  cell-matter;  germinal 
matter. 

PSORIASIS.  A  chronic  inflammatory  skin-disease  with 
scale  formation. 

PSYCHO-THERAPY.  The  treatment  of  disease  by  men- 
tal influence. 

PUBERTY.     The  age  of  capability  of  reproduction. 

PULSATION.     A  beating  or  throbbing  sensation. 

PULSE.  The  beat  or  shock  felt  in  any  artery  when 
slight  pressure  is  made  on  it,  caused  by  the 
contraction  of  the  heart. 

PURGATIVE.  A  substance  causing  watery  evacuations 
from  the  bowels;  a  cathartic. 

Pus.     A  thick  yellow  fluid,  the  product  of  suppuration. 

PUTREFY.  To  cause  to  rot  or  decay  with  an  offensive 
odor. 

PYLORUS.  The  opening  of  the  stomach  into  the  duo- 
denum. 

PYORRHEA.  A  discharge  of  pus,  usually  associated 
with  the  sockets  of  the  teeth. 

Q 

QUASI.     Almost;  something  which  resembles. 
QUOTA.     A  proportional  share  or  part. 

an 


GLOSSARY 


R 


RASH.     An  eruption  on  the  skin. 

RATION.     A  stated  or  fixed  amount;  an  allowance. 

RATIONAL.     Reasonable. 

RATIONALE.     A  statement  of  reasons. 

RECIPROCAL.     Mutual;  mutually  interchangeable. 

RECTUM.     The  lower  part  of  the  large  intestine. 

RECUMBENT.     Reclining;  lying. 

RCUPERATION.     Return  to  health;  convalescence. 

RECUR.  To  occur  again;  to  be  repeated  after  in- 
tervals. 

REFLEX.     An  involuntary  action  from  nerve-stimulus. 

REFUTE.     To  prove  to  be  false  or  erroneous. 

REGIME.     Mode  or  system  of  rule  or  management. 

REGIMEN.     The  methodic  use  of  food. 

REGURGITATION.  The  flowing  back  into  the  vessels  of 
the  heart  of  the  blood  which  has  just  left  them. 

RELAXATION.  Absence  of  tension,  usually  with  refer- 
ence to  the  muscles. 

REMEDY.     An  agent  used  in  the  treatment  of  disease. 

REPLICA.     A  copy  of  an  original. 

RESIDUE.     That  which  remains. 

RESPIRATION.  Inspiration  and  exhalation  of  air  by 
the  lungs. 

RHEUMATISM.  A  disease  symptom  with  fever,  pain, 
inflammation  and  swelling  of  the  joints. 

RIGIDITY.     Stiffness;  immobility. 

ROTARY.     Having  a  motion  on  its  axis  like  a  wheel. 

ROTATION.     Turning  on  the  axis. 

RUDIMENT.     That  which  is  unformed  or  undeveloped. 

365 


GLOSSARY 


SACRUM.  Five  vertebrae  at  the  lower  extremity  of  the 
spinal  column  that  rapidly  diminish  in  size 
from  above  downwards  and  are  united  into  one 
mass  in  the  adult. 

SALISBURY  TREATMENT.  A  system  of  treatment  em- 
ploying meat  and  hot  water. 

SALIVARY.     Pertaining  to  the  saliva. 

SALIVATION.     An  excessive  secretion  of  saliva. 

SALPINGITIS.     Inflammation  of  a  Fallopian  tube. 

SALUTARY.     Promotive  of  health. 

SATURATION.  The  condition  of  holding  in  solution  all 
of  a  solid  capable  of  being  contained. 

SCROFULA.  A  constitutional  condition  with  glandular 
tumors  and  a  tuberculous  tendency. 

SCURVY.     Affected  or  covered  with  scurf  or  scabs. 

SECRETE.     To  separate  from  the  blood. 

SENSORY.     Pertaining  to  sensation. 

SENSUAL.  Pertaining  to  the  senses  or  bodily  organs 
of  perception. 

SEPTIC.     Relating  to  putrefaction. 

SEPTICEMIA.  A  morbid  condition  from  the  absorption 
of  septic  products. 

SEQUENCE.     A  following  or  coming  after;  succession. 

SEROUS.     Having  the  nature  of  serum. 

SERUM.     The  fluid  constituent  of  the  blood. 

SIGMOID  FLEXURE.  The  S-shaped  portion  of  the  colon 
above  the  rectum. 

SIMULATE.  To  assume  the  likeness  of;  to  feign,  to 
counterfeit. 

SINUS.  A  hollow.  In  Anatomy  the  term  is  applied 
especially  to  a  dilated  vein  or  receptacle  of 

blood. 

366 


GLOSSARY 


SITZ-BATH.     A  bath  in  a  sitting  posture. 

SLOUGH.     To  separate  from  the  living  part,  as  the 
dead  part  in  mortification. 

SOPHISTICATED.     Not  genuine. 

SPECTRA.     Colors. 

SPINAL  CORD.     The  cord  of  nerve  tissue  in  the  canal 
of  the  spinal  column. 

SPINE.     The  vertebral  column. 

SPLEEN.     An  oval  organ  behind  the  outer  end  of  the 
stomach.     Its  use  is  unknown. 

SPLINT.     A  support  to  hold  fractured  bones  or  in- 
flamed joints  rigid. 

SPUTUM.     Expectorated  matter. 

STERILIZED.     Subjected  to  heat  of  sufficient  intensity 
to  destroy  germ  life. 

STERTOROUS.     Breathing  with  a  sonorous  sound. 

STIMULATION.     The  act  of  exciting ;  a  quickly  diffused 
but  transient  increase  of  vital  energy. 

STIMULUS.     Anything  exciting  an  organ. 

STOMACH.     The  chief  digestive  organ  of  the  body. 

STRICTURE.     A  contraction  of  a  duct  or  tube.     The 
text  refers  to  stricture  of  the  urethra. 

STRYCHNINE.     A  highly  poisonous  alkaloid  made  from 
Nux  Vomica. 

STULTIFACTION.     Rendering  worthless. 

STUPEFY.     To  make  dull  or  dead  to  external  influ- 
ences. 

SUBCUTANEOUS.     Under  the  skin. 

SUBJACENT.     Underlying. 

SUBSERVIENT.     Acting  as  a  subordinate  instrument. 

SUBVERSIVE.     Tending  to  overthrow. 

SUDORIFEROUS.     Carrying  sweat. 

SUPERFICIAL.     Confined  to  the  surface. 
367 


GLOSSARY 


SUPERSEDE.     To  displace. 

SUPERVENING.     To  take  place;  to  happen;  to  occur. 

SUPPURATING.     Forming   pus. 

SUSTENANCE.     That  which  supports  life;  food. 

SYMPTOM.     A  sign  of  disease. 

SYPHILIS.  A  chronic,  infectious,  venereal  disease, 
which  may  also  be  hereditary,  inducing  cutane- 
ous and  other  lesions. 


TARTAR.     The  deposit  of  calcareous  matter  upon  the 
teeth. 

TENSION.     The  state  of  being  stretched. 

TENTATIVE.     Based  on  experiment. 

TERM.     A  definite  period,  as  the  full  Term  of  gesta- 
tion. 

THERAPEUTICS.     Science  concerned  with  the  applica- 
tion of  remedies  and  the  treatment  of  disease. 

TISSUE.     An  aggregation  of  similar  cells  and  fibers, 
forming  a  distinct  structure. 

TITILLATION.     The  act  or  sensation  of  tickling. 

TONIC.     An  agent  to  produce  normal  tone  of  an  organ 
or  a  part. 

TONSIL.     A  glandular  organ  on  each  side  of  the  throat. 

TONSILITIS.     Inflammation  of  the  tonsils. 

TOXICATION.      The  process   of   cumulative   poisoning 
from  septic  products. 

TOXIN.     A  poison  formed  by  bacteria  in  both  living 
tissues   and  dead  substances. 

TRACHEA.     The  windpipe. 

TREMOR.     Involuntary  trembling. 

TRUNK.     The  body  except  the  head  and  the  limbs. 
368 


GLOSSARY 


TUBERCLE.  A  small  nodule  of  glandular  cells  con 
stituting  the  condition  called  tuberculosis. 

TUBERCULAR.     Pertaining  to  or  containing  tubercles. 

TUBERCULOSIS.  An  infectious  disease  due  to  a  specific 
bacillus,  characterized  by  the  formation  of 
tubercles. 

TYPHOID.  Resembling  typhus.  Typhoid  fever  is  a 
continued  acute,  infectious  fever,  with  intestin- 
al lesions,  etc. 

u 

ULCER.  Suppuration  upon  a  free  surface;  an  open 
sore. 

UMBILICAL  .CORD.  The  navel-string  attaching  the 
fetus  to  the  placenta  or  after-birth. 

UMBILICUS.  The  narrow  and  deep  impression  in  the 
center  of  the  abdomen,  marking  where  the 
fetus  was  attached  to  the  placenta  by  the 
navel-string;  the  navel. 

UNITY.  The  state  or  condition  of  being  one ;  oneness ; 
singleness. 

URETER.  A  tube  carrying  urine  from  kidney  to 
bladder. 

URETHRA.     The  excretory  canal  of  the  bladder. 

URETHRITIS.     Inflammation  of  the  urethra. 

URIC.  Contained  in  or  derived  from  urea,  which  is 
the  chief  solid  constituent  of  urine,  and  is  the 
principal  waste  product  of  tissue-decomposition. 

URINE.     The  excretion  of  the  kidneys. 

UTERUS.     The  hollow  muscular  organ  of  the  female 
generative  system   in  which  the  fetus  is  con- 
tained during  pregnancy. 
369 


GLOSSARY 


V 

VAGINA.     The  canal  from  the  vulva  to  the  uterus. 
VALVULAR.     Pertaining  to  a  valve. 
VEGETARIAN.     One  whose  diet  is  vegetable. 
VENEREAL.     Pertaining  to  sexual  intercourse. 
VENOUS.     Pertaining  to  a  vein  as  opposed  to  an  artery. 
VERITY.     The  quality  or  state  of  being  true;  truth. 
VERTEBRA.     A   bony   segment  of  the   spinal  column. 

Plural,  Vertebrae. 
VICE  VERSA.     The  reverse ;  the  terms  of  the  case  being 

reversed. 
VIRULENCE.     The  quality  or  state  of  being  extremely 

poisonous. 
VIRUS.     Any  organic  poison;  the  pus  from  an  ulcer; 

the  result  of  some  morbid  action  on  the  system. 
VISCERA.     The  contents  of  the  body  cavities. 
VISCID.     Glutinous;  ropy. 
Viscous.     The  same  as  Viscid. 
VISUAL.     Pertaining  to  vision. 
VITIATE.     To  taint;  to  infect. 
VITUPERATION.     Abuse. 
Viz.     To, wit;  namely;  that  is. 
VOLITION.     The  will  to  act. 
VULVA.     The  external  female  genitals. 

w 

WET-NURSE.      A    woman    who    suckles    the    child    01 

another. 
WHEY.     The  liquid  part  of  milk  separating  from  the 

curd  in  coagulation. 
WOMB.     The  Uterus. 

370 


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